Pokeduds
by 0 Jordinio 0
Summary: Welcome to the wild and majestic world of the Pokeduds! Brave this new plane, take in the many and I do mean many failed attempts for Jordinio to write. There's a lot of them and they suck. A collection of beginnings that never progressed very well, or I trashed in favor of a different idea.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this isn't exactly a new story. It's more ideas I've started that never went anywhere, or previous incarnations of chapters already written and so. More or less, why it's called Pokeduds.**

* * *

Amber eyes lit up with absolute livid rage. "You damn freaks!" Ash growled menacingly through the reinforced doors blocking him. "Let us outta here, right now!" he bellowed, slamming his shoulder into the door with enough force to make the entire wall rattle.

Through the window of thick glass his eyes were set on the trio that had locked him and his friends in here in the first place. Jessie, James and Meowth, laughing with malicious glee as Jessie waved around the silver suitcase holding their pokeballs and James paraded Pikachu around like a trophie, trapped within one of their stupid electricity-resistant cages.

Jessie stuck her tongue out at him mockingly, "Yeah right twerp," She replied, going as far as to bring one of her hands up and flip him off, "We win! We've got all'a your pokemon, Pikachu's trapped and you're stuck in there!"

James took the mocking even further, squashing his face right up against the glass and began making deranged faces at them, "There's absolutely nothing you can do now you stupid twerps!" He laughed out, his voice muffled from his position on the glass.

Growling, Ash flung his face forward and head butted the glass window so hard the entire frame shook. James yelped and sprung back like the coward he was. "I'm gonna beat you till you're unrecognisable when I get outta here you damn flamboyant clown." The amber eyed trained snarled lowly.

James actually paled at the threat, but before Ash could take satisfaction in that little victory and follow up with another threat for icing on the cake, a small feminine hand laid gently on his shoulder grabbing his attention.

He turned slightly, amber eyes practically glowing with a need for violence meeting soft, concerned pools of the clearest blue. He'd travelled with a few girls that had blue eyes, May's had been an incredibly light blue that bordered on crystalline and Dawn's herself had been a deep, dark blue that almost bordered on black at times. But Serena? Her eyes were just blue, he couldn't describe them in any other way. Her eyes were just so blue, bluer than the sunny summer sky, more blue than anything he'd ever seen.

That was saying something considering he'd seen the Blue Orb itself in person.

"Ash," Serena breathed softly, those blue orbs of her casting a concerned glance at Pikachu outside the room within the clutches of team rocket, "Calm down okay? Don't let them provoke you, we need to think of a way out of here, stooping to their level won't help." she told him, her voice washing over him comfortingly

Serena had that effect on him. Brock's voice had been deep, wise in ways that touched on his experience, Cilan's had been even more flamboyant than that fruit cake James' and each and every one of the girls he'd traveled with previously had been loud, proud and fiery in their own different ways. Serena's was different, she wasn't quite as confident as the other girls he'd traveled with, she was soft spoken and patient.

He felt two small arms wrap around his midsection and broke away from his eye to eye with Serena. Looking down, he was met with a head of blonde hair pressed tightly against his stomach, thin arms trembling slightly, "Don't let them get to you Ash, please," Bonnie said into his stomach, voice both hitched and muffled from his jacket. Bonnie turned her face up to meet his and a flash of red hot anger shot through his system once again, "We need to focus so we can save Dedenne and the others." she hiccuped slightly, blue eyes of her own nearing the shade of May's watery with unshed tears.

Ash clamped down on the growl that threatened to explode from his throat, his eyes searching out Clemont flashing him a shaky smile from the other side of the room as he continued his search for anything useful to help them get out of this room. Instead he lightly ruffed her immaculate blonde hair in a comforting manner, "Don't worry Bonnie, they won't get away with this." Ash told her, careful to not promise to let go off his anger. Bonnie was only a little girl, didn't these pathetic thieves have any shame?

He was so done with this. He'd been content to just let them go about their buisness and annoy him with their attempts to steal Pikachu every week or so, they were so inept they couldn't even take Pikachu from him when he was a complete ignorant noobie, he'd been more amused by them than anything else to tell the truth. Not like trainers as pathetic as them could ever beat him, right?

Ever since Unova, they'd stepped up their game though. They became more and more malicious every time he saw them. His arrogance had got the best of him once again and because of that arrogance they were in this situation.

"Hah!" He heard Jessie cackle. Turning from Bonnie he looked to see Jessie with James beside her leaning up against the window on the door, no doubt to mock them once again. They were so stupid, they already had what they wanted why didn't they just make off with their pokemon? That stupidity was going to cost them when he got outta here, "Yeah twerp, don't let us make you angry! Listen to the useless loser of a trainer and the useless little tag along." the pink haired woman sneered at them.

He saw Serena flinch back as if struck. Gently, he removed Bonnie's arms from his waist and turned his attention back to the window, "Shut up! I'm warning you.." Ash let the threat hang in the air.

Jessie just continued to sneer at him, completely confident in their victory. She took no heed of his anger or warnings, "Seriously twerp, at least the other brat was like a walking pokedex, he was a step up from the munchkin you have tagging along this time," she said, "But forget her, don't get me started on that useless girl beside you. Seriously, what do you see in her? The first one was a gym leader, the second was raised by a gym leader, the third had been preparing to enter contests long before she left on her journey and the last was training to be a dragon-master." Jessie continued, her eyes straying from Ash and staring mockingly right at Serena.

Ash pointed a finger right at her, "I'm warning you one more time. Drop it, or you're seriously not gonna like what's gonna happen to you three freaks when I get outta here." he told her, his voice ice cold.

Jessie pulled back and her eyes lit up with fury, her face flushing red in her anger. "Freaks!? How dare you!" she screeched in outrage.

Ash would have smirked, if James hadn't already been right beside her ready to continue where she left off, "You've went with a serious downgrade this time twerp," he told Ash with a chuckle, "She's terribly lacking in comparison with the other girls."

He shot a sneer at the girl in questio, "Why, it was quite the sight to see her sobbing like a little child because she failed utterly at that showcase." he continued, "The way she cut her hair was the most amusing thing I've seen in a long while, a way to distance herself from the utter failure she was I assume."

Serena gasped, staggering back slightly and her hands flying up to her mouth in shock. Her entire face was turning red from sheer embarrassment, "You….you were watching me?" she whispered, her voice disbelieving as if she couldn't believe they'd do such a thing.

When all James did was break out into outrageous laughter, Ash's eyes narrowed. He was so sick of these utterly pathetic losers dogging their steps and mocking his friends. That was what they were, losers. One ran away from home because he was a spineless little rich boy running from a girl he didn't want to marry and the other was just a pathetic, arrogant and greedy girl who wanted to take from others for herself.

He didn't know and could care less about Meowth's history.

For one brief second, amber turned into shining orbs of endless blue. Then he swung his fist.

* * *

Serena had always known Ash was strong. She'd known ever since they were little when he attempted to escort her out of the forest at Professor Oak's summer camp. Her knee had been hurt more than first thought and even with Ash steadying her she couldn't put her weight on it.

So what did Ash do? He picked her up and swung her onto his back, then he trekked for over ten minutes with her on his back to reach the summer camp again. All without stopping or complaining once.

Then there was the way he could casually let Fletchinder roost atop his arm, all the while carrying Pikachu and his backpack filled with supplies. She'd tried to let Fletchinder do it once and she nearly toppled over within the first second.

So yes, Serena had always known Ash was strong. He displayed it so casually and so often that it became kind of like a fact of life to her. Like the sun was hot, Ash was strong. It was just a fact.

Then, she was shamed to admit as she stood there completely out of her element and completely mortified by the mocking she was on the receiving end of, being compared to other girls in Ash's life of all things...then, Ash swung his fist.

Serena gasped, eyes widening in utter disbelief as Ash punched right through the thick, reinforced glass like it was paper and latch onto James' throat, dragging the man forward and making sure to smash his face harshly against the door that was locking them in.

"Ash!" She shouted, worry filling her. Serena didn't care that he may have dragged James into the door with enough force to crack his skull, all she cared about was the fact that Ash could very well hurt himself very badly if the glass punctured his arm.

Worry getting the best of her, Serena hurriedly pulled her red vest off and quickly rushed up behind Ash. James was screaming as Ash growled, pulling him into the door head first again and again while squeezing the man's throat tightly.

* * *

 **This takes place in the Pokeball Company episode.**

 **So the original idea for this, was for Team Rocket to save James and go to make their escape. Only, Clemont comes to the rescue and manages to fix up a Pokemon Transport Machine that was within the room. Ash calls Oak and gets the closest of his pokemon at hand sent over, which just happened to be Sceptile that Oak was doing some research on**

 **Well, those doors wouldn't last long against Sceptile, and Team Rocket even less so. They get stomped, arrested once and for all and at the end of the day Ash keeps Sceptile on the team. The general idea, is that his other pokemon grow stronger, quicker due to training with Sceptile and Ash see's the potential in having his new pokemon train against his older, more powerful ones. This story would probably include Ash getting Sawyer and Trevor's mega stones, because fuck those dopey kids. They in no way deserve Mega Evolution.**


	2. Chapter 2

**So hey, you'll probably notice this dud is quite similar to the beginning of Working The Master's Path With Skill. That's because this was the original opening chapter I'd planned, that included Ash bringing in more than just Charizard. Well, before I scrapped that idea.**

* * *

It was early, incredibly early. So early in fact, that the sun had barely begun to rise.

Ash ketchum sat entirely alone, his tanned face pensive as he stared at his outstretched hands. Neither Pikachu, nor any of his other travelling companions through the Kalos Region were awake, and they wouldn't awake for a good few hours yet.

It was the next morning after his battle with the powerful trainer Alain. Last night, he'd made a decision when everyone else went up to bed. Alain's Charizard was incredibly powerful, mega evolution or not.

He had to step up his training regime. Otherwise, it was quite likely that once again he would end up falling short of another league victory. He refused to fall short a sixth time. Sure, he was only 15 years old and very rarely did someone his age earn the skills and pokemon strong enough to even come close to winning a league conference, never mind defeat any of the vaunted members of any region's Elite Four.

There was a reason, even the youngest of them were in their twenties.

Without being humble, Ash knew he was a good trainer. Great even, leagues above the average trainer. The likes of Tierno, Trevor and even Sawyer couldn't even come close to beating his Kalos team alone, never mind any of his older teams. But...being just great, wasn't good enough for Ash. He wanted to be the best, stand above everyone else and have his name imprinted into history as a legend among legends.

And then he wanted to become even greater still.

Alain was possibly the first real contender he'd come across ever since reaching Kalos. To be perfectly honest, the journey had been incredibly easy up to that point. The only possible snags had been Viola and Korrina, and them only because Pikachu was still regaining the power he lost from whatever Zekrom did to the little guy.

But yes, until Alain he'd forgotten that feeling. The feeling he got around the likes of Lance and Cynthia. The intensity of an opponent currently beyond his reach. And Alain was beyond his reach, when he'd battled and become one with Greninja, he'd saw and felt the power of that mega Charizard.

With his current team, he couldn't beat him. Pikachu may have been able to before they even came across Zekrom, but that was a moot point now and his partner was playing catch up – he was making good progress, enough so that he could even overcome mega Lucario but it would be some time before he reached the level where he could take down opponent's of mega Charizard's caliber. It was only recently Pikachu had regained a powerful enough voltage to sustain Volt Tackle the way they liked to use it.

Talonflame, Hawlucha, Noibat hell even Goodra couldn't hope to match that Charizard. Greninja alone couldn't either, though he was sure that if they could somehow master that powerful form of his, Ash was sure they'd have a good shot at bringing it down.

Just like he'd felt Charizard's power as they battled, he could also sense the depths of Greninja's power and just how much power was there dormant, that they couldn't yet tap into.

And that was why he found himself in his current position. In his right hand, he held five shrunken pokeballs. The pokemon he'd captured since coming to Kalos; he'd even made a call to the wetlands to have Goodra transported over. Staying and protecting his home or not, Goodra was still his pokemon and the loveable dragon was always interested in becoming stronger, a by product of the helplessness he'd felt as a Goomy.

In his right hand, he held six more shrunken pokeballs. He'd asked Professor Oak to extend his carry limit to twelve last night. The old man had been a bit grumpy since he called late at night, but had given in to his request since he met the requirements needed. He could have got the limit extended much higher, like Gary whom he knew carried over twenty pokemon on him at a time these days, but had decided that twelve would be fine for now.

Then he'd requested the good professor to transfer over six pokemon he'd chosen to specifically help his Kalos team grow in strength faster. Six pokemon that were far beyond what any of them were currently capable of bringing down and suited to helping them train and enhance their natural abilities.

* * *

Making his way to the middle of a wide open battle, inside a large enclosed room, Ash paused. He eyed the room around him silently for a moment, taking in the stands for an audience sitting at the far right.

Normally, he'd just train outside instead of bothering with a fancy battle room like this, but it was early and he didn't want the loud sounds of his training to wake anybody up this early. Thankfully, these indoor battlefields came with soundproofed walls.

"Technology sure has come a long way," he mused, amber eyes idly scanning the field. It was plenty spacious enough, which was good for what he had planned. Taking the pokeballs of his Kalos team from his belt, Ash released the pokemon inside.

One by one they appeared before him in bright flashes of light. Greninja, cool and calm as ever met his eyes and tilted his head in askance. Talonflame appeared with a squawk, stretching out his wings that glittered with small embers. A broad smirk sat upon Hawlucha's face as he settled into his favourite cross-armed pose, and Noibat was next sleepily rubbing at his large yellow eyes and giving a large yawn.

It was the final pokemon to appear that gathered the rest of the pokemon's attention though. Goodra appeared with a happy cry, thumping down hard beside the rest of the team sans Pikachu.

"Lucha!" Hawlucha cried, his smirk turning into a grand grin at the sight of their old teammate. Talonflame wasn't far behind, hopping over and giving a delighted squawk. Noibat hesitantly followed behind, eyeing Goodra's massive form warily.

The size difference really was something else, Ash mused. Noibat was barely bigger than Goodra's paw, where as Goodra himself towered at nearly ten feet. Dragon-types really could get massive, Goodra was still young and was already a behemoth.

Thankfully, Noibat's hesitance of Goodra didn't last long. Upon meeting the little pokemon, Goodra immediately snatched him up gently with one of the feeler tentacles on his head and bobbed the little pokemon up and down at eye level. Noibat seemed to find the experience fun and began to chant cheerily in time with the bobbing.

Ash's attention was taken from the sight of Noibat and Goodra's meeting by a tap to the shoulder. He turned, and met the eyes of Greninja who was staring at him pensively, arms crossed. Instead of greeting the dual water and dark-type, Ash instead asked, "You felt it, didn't you?"

Greninja was silent for a moment, holding his gaze on Ash's eyes steady. Then he nodded in reply, "Ninja."

Ash sighed slightly, then, a small grin slowly overtook his face. He threw one arm over Greninja's shoulder and pulled the pokemon into a one armed embrace, "As we are now, we stand no chance against someone on the level of Alain, not to mention above." he said.

Greninja settled slightly against Ash's shoulder before nodding. Ash seeing that, continued. "All of you are strong, don't get me wrong and you all have the potential to become amazingly powerful," Ash said, "But at the pace we're going at right now, winning the Kalos League will be a pipe dream if there are people on Alain's level competing this year...and with how commonly we've run into mega evolutions lately it's seeming entirely to likely for me not to want to prepare."

When Greninja tightened his crossed arms and gave a tight nod, Ash's smirk grew in size and he gently pushed Greninja out of his embrace with one hand and palmed one of the six pokeballs on the other side of his belt, "..That's why, I've decided to bring in some help." He made sure to say that nice and loudly as he held the pokeball up, drawing everyone's attention to him.

Seeing the pokeball in his hand, the other pokemon turned their attention to him. Goodra gently the small dragon down on his feet as the gentle giant's gaze turned both serious and wary. Goodra already knew what he planned, so his caution was well deserved. Though, the dragon had no idea just what kind of opponent they were really in for.

Ash made sure to keep the pokeball aloft, "After meeting that incredibly strong trainer yesterday," he began, "I decided that it's time to to put you guys through much more rigorous training in preparation for the Kalos League, because without it you guys won't stand a chance."

As Greninja stepped back into line with the other pokemon, only Noibat flinched at the semi-harsh criticism. Again, well deserved when taken into account that Ash never criticized the young dragon and praised him at any opportunity.

"Now, this training is going to be incredibly tough. Much, much tougher than any training I've put any of you through before," he continued. His gaze traversed from pokemon to pokemon, meeting each and everyone of their eyes, though he held Noibat's watery gaze the longest and his stern face faded. "You don't have to go through with it if you don't want to though. I'd never force you into something like this." The statement was aimed more at Noibat than the rest, but he meant it towards every pokemon he owned.

Surprisingly, Noibat puffed his little chest up and did his very best to give Ash a confident glare. There's that dragon's pride, they all had it to some degree Ash knew. He swept his eyes from each of his pokemon, and when none of them backed down from meeting his gaze...Ash knew that they'd decided.

"Well then," He began with a grin, shaking the pokeball he held aloft slightly, "I brought six of my older pokemon here, all very strong and here to help you guys train. And we're going to start off with a battle."

He swept his amber eyes across the five pokemon, "The pokemon in this pokeballe is both the youngest and weakest of the six I brought," He told them, "But I'll tell you this now, none of you as you are have any hope of coming close to defeating this pokemon."

Then he released the pokemon within.

With a loud snore, the pokemon was revealed. It was a behemoth that towered over even Goodra, even with its head bent downwards as it slept while standing up. Rough dark blue scales covered the majority of its body, while its stomach was covered in a red and yellow underbelly. Small spikes decorated from its knees upwards and fanned out from the edges of its underbelly, leading to a few on each arm. Its wrists featured a large fine like protrusion, while another emerged outwards from its middle back. Atop its pointed head, it had a star like mark on its nose and two jet like horns jutting from its skull.

The reactions of his pokemon varied. Greninja raised a brow in interest, while Hawlucha began to excitedly punch the air in preparation for a good fight. Both Noibat and Talonflame stared at the beast wide eyed while Goodra eyed the pokemon with an anxious frown.

Ash's grin if possible got even bigger. "Guys, meet Garchomp," He introduced with a sweep of his arm. Frowning when the great dragon beside him continued to snore, Ash gave a sigh before reaching up to give the slumbering beast a flick on the nose, even then only reaching because Garchomp was bent over while it slumbered, "Fighing time." he said simply when the pokemon gave a grunt and sleepily blinked its eyes open.

When its eyes fully opened and they landed on Ash. The great beast gave a delighted cry that would definitely terrify any children that could hear it, eyes filling with happiness...then the dragon lunged forward, gaping maw wide open as Garchomp tried to chomp on his head.

"No way!" Ash barked, springing back. "It was bad enough when you were a little Gible, I'm not letting you chew on my head now!" he shouted over his shoulder as he practically sprinted towards the stands on the far side of the battlefield.

Thankfully, before Garchomp could make chase Hawlucha interrupted. Flying through the air at great speeds, Knee poised and glowing with power as he executed a text book perfect Hi Jump Kick.

* * *

Greninja blinked. That was both fast and terrifying.

As soon as his trainer had vacated the immediate vicinity, Hawlucha had attacked, and really who could blame Ash after having a beast like that trying to take a chomp out of his head?

But in the time it took to blink Hawlucha was already down. Greninja had seen it all, he was used to high speed combat, that was how Ash trained him...but even then he'd barely been able to follow. One moment, Hawlucha had seemingly taking the massive dragon by surprise and was mere inches from slamming his most powerful attack home right across the beasts face.

Then Garchomp and merely lifted an arm almost faster than Greninja could follow and smashed Hawlucha aside with raw strength alone, no technique to empower the blow needed. Hawlucha shot off like a rocket, passing by their trainer and literally smashing through the audience stands. Thankfully, their trainer had the good sense to call the then unconscious fighting type back to his pokeball.

Noibat and Talonflame followed up immediately with shrieks of rage. Talonflame blitzing forward, entire body enshrouded in a pillar of flames so hot they turned blue and Noibat followed close behind, glowing with the power of Acrobatics.

They like Hawlucha were defeated in the blink of an eye. It didn't even take a second for that Garchomp to charge up, then it had fired an absolutely gargantuan black beam of destruction from its maw, the same gaping maw that wanted to chomp on their trainer's head!?

It reminded him of the day he met Ash and Team Rocket caused his friend, Sycamore's Garchomp to go on a rampage except her Hyper Beams were nowhere near as big, nor where they charged up so fast.

The beam of destructive power had tore a literal trench larger than Greninja's own body through the ground in seconds before the dragon had allowed the attack to dissipate and leave the greviously injured bodies of both Noibat and Talonflame to view.

Luckily Talonflame had been in front and using his strongest attack. That had negated a lot of the damage, and Noibat wasn't exposed to nearly as much as Talonflame thankfully. Otherwise, both pokemon would quite possibly be in critical condition right now.

Then, all the beast did after taking down three of their comrades in less than seconds...was blink and begin staring at both him and Goodra blankly.

When Ash had said they didn't have any hope of defeating this pokemon before he sent it out, quite frankly he'd been insulted. Ash had always believed in his power, in any situation no matter what was thrown at them. He'd actually been a little bit hurt by the statement as well.

Now he saw though. His trainer was just telling the truth. It was even more mind boggling when Greninja recalled that Ash had said this pokemon was the weakest of the six he'd brought to help them train.

So this was the type of pokemon produced when training under Ash? He'd always known he'd made a good choice in choosing Ash as his trainer, but he never expected something like this. It was absolutely incredibly, he wondered just how strong the strongest of those six were...and were any of these six actually his strongest pokemon? Or did he have other, more powerful monsters at his beck and call? Because that was all he could describe the beasts he imagined as.

He blinked as a trio of icy blue forked beams of energy tore past him. Lancing across the battlefield at breakneck speeds, the ground beneath it freezing over as it passed. With a battle cry, Goodra bounded past him, arms glowing with burning orange energy.

Ice beam and a new attack? Interesting, it seemed Goodra hadn't just been resting on his laurels when they left him behind in the wet lands. He didn't really understand Goodra's decision to stay back there when they could be with Ash, to be honest Greninja couldn't imagine home as anywhere else but by his trainer's side these days. But even though he didn't understand, he respected Goodra's decision, he'd never really had a home before Ash he supposed, he'd never fit in anywhere else not even with the Froakie tribe he'd hatched with.

Greninja blinked as Garchomp responded in kind, arms turning the same burning orange as Goodra and tearing through that ice beam like it wasn't even there, barely even fazed by it besides a grunt of annoyance. Then Garchom accelerated forward, clearing the distance between it and the charging Goodra in the blink of an eye, so fast Greninja only managed to glimpse a blur.

With a battle cry of its own, Garchomp slammed its glowing fist into Goodra's belly. Goodra grunted himself, but used the momentum of the blow just like Ash taught them all early on, even with his immense size Goodra spun out of the way of Garchomp's next blow and slammed home both of his glowing orange arms, one on the Garchomp's collarbone and the other right at the bottom of its stomach.

A debilitating set of blows to any average pokemon, but this Garchomp merely once again grunted and slid back a foot, gouging small trenches in the battlefield with its feet. Goodra had already charged up his next attack though before it even finished sliding even slightly back.

Goodra forgot something clearly that Greninja hadn't. Garchomp had been trained by Ash as well, and for longer than them. So as Goodra fired his ice beam attack not even a second later, Garchomp was already using the momentum of Greninja's own double blows to duck, spin around and smash its tail glowing a bright blue right into Goodra's face.

The blow was so tremendous it actually lifted the behemoth Goodra up off his feet and sent him flying across the battlefield, the same way Hawlucha had went. That wasn't even the end of it, before Goodra had even come close to landing Garchomp gave a growl and launched another massive black beam of destruction from its mouth.

The beam hit Goodra, washed over the pure dragon's form and then exploded with enough force to almost blow Greninja off his feet, more than thirty feet away. When the smoke cleared, there was a massive crater with Goodra laying in the centre.

But that was not nearly enough to bring the ever enduring Goodra down. With a grunt, Goodra shook the debris from his form and began to rise.

"Garchomp!"

Greninja whirled around and watched with wide eyes as Garchomp expelled a massive orange orb of power from its throat. It launched into the air above Goodra and began to rain down on the rising dragon in small, meteor like blasts.

Greninja could only watch wide-eyed. It was like stars falling from the sky and impacting against Goodra. One, two, four, seven….he lost count not long later as more and more rained down upon Goodra.

In the end, even Goodra's ever amazing endurance gave out beneath the onslaught and the slimy dragon fell limp in the now even wider crater. Moments later, he was recalled by their trainer.

Greninja calmed himself and even his breathing. He guessed it was his turn now. He'd been waiting till the end to both see how this beast of a dragon fought and because, he honestly much preferred to fight his opponents one on one.


	3. Chapter 3

**So this was my attempt at; Working Johto With Skill!**

* * *

Ash made his way over to the rock with, ambling his way up and sitting atop it with a sigh, "What now?" he asked himself.

What to do now?

That was the question that plagued Ash Ketchum. Earlier, his plans had been set. He'd check out the Whirl Island's with his friends. But that was all derailed – and just form a simple phone call.

Things had changed so suddenly and without warning.

Apparently, Misty's sisters had won a cruise trip around the world. And they were leaving the gym to her, and with how irresponsible the Sensational Sisters were, Misty had little choice but to pack her things and head straight hot Kanto within the hour, lest they lose the Cerulean Gym. Something that had been handed down throughout Misty's family for generations.

That was fine with him – he'd miss her of course, they'd been travelling together for newly two years now, the orange haired girl having become a close if not best friend and even someone he considered to be almost like sister to him. He'd miss her, but he'd always known they couldn't travel together forever.

Of course, when it rains it pours.

Brock had ended up getting worried for his own Gym after that and called home. Only to find out his rather eccentric mother had returned and won the Pewter Gym from Flint in a battle and was planning on turning the gym into a water type on.

That didn't sit well with Brock one bit and he was forced to follow Misty's example and head back to Kanto as quickly as possible.

Which led to now, with Ash sitting atop one of the rocks outside Chuck's Dojo, contemplating what to do.

"Hey Ash!" the familiar gruff voice of Chuck shouted, grabbing his attention.

Turning, the young raven haired trainer looked towards the hefty fighting type specialist whom was making his way over towards him, "What are ya doing out here?" Chuck asked.

Ash sighed, "Trying to decide on what to do now that I'll be travelling alone."

Chuck hummed in thought, "Well you did plan for the Whirl Islands, so you should head there," he replied, "You still have to pass some time before Jasmine will want to battle you right?"

Ash nodded, "That's true," he agreed.

Chuck nodded, "How about I give you a little bit of advice?" the fighting gym leader said.

Ash raised a brow in interest, "What kind of advice?"

Chuck rooted around in his white gi pants for a few moments before producing a familiar looking disc, "Know what this is?" he asked.

Ash nodded slightly, "It's a TM right?" he inquired. He'd seen them about here and there, mostly in stores but hadn't really paid much attention to them since he couldn't afford them when he began his journey.

He handed the disc to Ash whom took it, "It's the TM for Brick Break, a pretty strong fighting type attack and something you should definitely teach that Pikachu of yours," Chuck told him, "You've trained Pikachu well Ash, he's a really fast little guy and has a ton of power, but like what happened against my Poliwrath earlier, he isn't very good in close and personal, you should cover your bases with your pokemon."

Ash eyed the TM for a moment as he processed Chuck's words. It was true he'd never really worked on Pikachu's physical strength all that much. For the most part, Pikachu's speed and raw power were enough to down almost anyone.

But in close earlier Pikachu had been defeated easily by Poliwrath's physical might. And if Pikacahu was deficient in those kinds of ways, then no doubt a bunch of his other pokemon had their own deficiencies.

"Why are you giving me this?" the young raven haired trainer asked.

Chuck laughed loudly, "Cuz I like ya kid, you've got guts!" he replied boisterously, "Neither of the pokemon you used against me today were the close combat type but you took me and my fighting types head on without even flinching."

True, but he only did that because he was stubborn. He could admit that much to himself at least. If he played it smart, he could have easily had Pikachu blitz around Poliwrath and finish it off with Thunder.

There was only so much of the same tried and true formula though before it just failed utterly. Pikachu's speed and power wasn't always going to save the day so he wanted to see how he stacked in up close with a fighting masters pokemon.

Apparently not too well. He'd need to start thinking outside the box with his pokemon, instead of training them the traditional way. Pikachu already had the power and the speed. If he had the durability and the strength, he'd be nearly unbeatable!

A hard thump on the back drew him from his thoughts, "How many pokemon do you have on you Ash?" Chuck asked.

"Four," Ash replied. Pikachu, Bayleef, Cyndaquil and Totodile. Heracross was enjoying his time at the lab where as Professor Oak had wanted to study Noctowl's rare coloured feathers.

"Two spots left huh?" Chuck let loose a deep belly laugh, "Before you head off to the Whirl Islands you should give the Safari Zone here a shot, it opened up a few months ago and there's quite a few rare pokemon out there – I've been trying to catch myself a Riolu in there for months, the little buggers are hard to keep a track of."

Safari huh? Ash mused. That might not be such a bad idea. Well….If he didn't get over run by Tauros this time. He'd missed out on catching the likes of Rhyhorn and stuff last time because of just how much Tauros' seemed to adore him.


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm not even sure where I was going with this one. It was either Pidgeotto or Bulbasaur evolving and Ash catching Aerodactyl thouhg, atleast I think so.**

* * *

In hindsight it wasn't the best of ideas to send out Charmeleon.

But he was desperate. He and Pikachu were cornered, Team Rocket had run off somewhere leaving them to fend for themselves and the group of ancient and extremely powerful Pokemon continued to advance upon them.

Ash scowled as his eyes flitted over Charmeleon's sleeping form atop a rocky outcrop of the deep, dark and dank cave they were trapped in.

He missed Charmander, never mind the fact that Charmeleon was so powerful now he'd yet to lose a single battle - the attitude his Pokemon had now really pissed him off.

His amber eyes moved onwards taking in the sight of the Pokemon advancing upon he and Pikachu. Four in total, two massive Kabutops with gleaming sickle bladed arms and two Omastar, tentacles writhing around their faces and their mouths making odd yet terrifying sucking sounds.

His eyes cut back to Pikacu who was standing in front of him protectively, sparking electricity from his small red cheeks.

Ash gulped, these odds were not good in any shape or form.

"Thunderbolt!" He ordered Pikachu.

Not a second later did the small yellow Pokemoon let loose a blinding, large arc of electicity that smashed into one of the Kabutops before it could even react. The ancient, supposedly extinct Pokemon gave a shriek of pain and was pushed backwards a few steps.

But that was all. Just like last time.

Despite the fact that Kabutops were part Water-Type and should have been exceedingly weak against a Thunderbolt attack so powerful, it was still standing strong.

It was a horrifying realization. These Pokemon were so ancient and powerful, that even with a type advantage his Pokemon couldn't even come close to matching them.

"Tch!" Ash scowled. The strongest attack Pikachu had bar Thunder and it may as well have been a spit ball for all the good it did them. Weren't Kabutops supposed to be part water-type? The pokedex claimed they were.

The only bright spot in this otherwise bleak situation was the fact that at the very least, the Kabuto and Omanyte had chased after Team Rocket.

Slowly, the four pokemon surrounded he and Pikachu from each side. Ash half wanted them to just hurry up and attack, the thundering of his heart in his chest from the anticipation was driving him crazy.

Quick, think! What options did he have? Pidgeotto was a no go, his loyal flying type didn't know any attacks that would be effective on rock types. If he got out of here, he made a note to do something about that. Squirtle wasn't with them, the little guy had been left behind when they were dragged down here thanks to the explosion of the dynamite going off. Pikachu's electric attacks were pretty much useless, and he didn't have the physical strength to keep up with these guys.

That left him with raw strength. The only pokemon he had with him that excelled in brute force was Charmeleon. But again he was a no go with how rebellious he'd been since he evolved. He missed Primeape, his only fighting type would be great to have on hand at the moment.

Really, he only had one option. A loose plan began to form in his head.

Ash's eyes tightened as he noted the Kabutop's tensing at the legs. They were going to lunge, he decided, with the Omastar behind them, he and Pikachu had to either go towards the Omastar, backwards or face the Kabutops head on.

No way. "I've had enough of this crap!" the trainer growled. Quick as a flash, he palmed two of the pokeballs on his belt and released the pokemon within, "Pidgeotto Gust, Bulbasaur Vine Whip!" he hurriedly ordered.

The silvery burst from the pokeballs hadn't even dulled before the materialized pokemon attacked. Bulbasaur landed in front of him, twin vines launching forward and wrapping around the Kabutops' legs, while at the same time Pidgeotto appeared in the air above Ash and began to furiously beat its wings with enough force to generate a gale force wind towards the Omastar.

As one, at that moment, the Kabutops both slashed towards the vines holding them, slashing themselves free with ease. But, it held their attention just long enough. "Thunderbolt!" Ash told his starter again.

He didn't even pay heed as Pikachu lit up in a brilliant yellow glow and unleashed a torrent of lightning atop the two Kabutops. He pointed at the Omastar held at bay by the winds generated by Pidgeotto, "Sleep Powder!"


	5. Chapter 5

**This is from an idea where not only does Ash get his pokemon early. But it's thanks to Damien as well.**

* * *

Eight year old Ash Ketchum sighed in complete and utter boredom. The young boy decked out in a plain yellow t-shirt and blue shorts impatiently waited with his fishing rod already cast deep into the creak he was sitting on the edge of.

"...Boring..." Ash sighed to himself as his lure bobbed gently to the sway of the water, he'd been at it for over an hour already and had yet to fish up one Pokemon. "Stupid Gary, I bet he's having heaps of fun at the Oak Ranch with all those Pokemon." The young black haired boy grumbled to himself.

Sighing once again, Ash relaxed back on the palms of his hands and stared up at the wide blue sky, his eyes locked on a large and majestic Pidgeot streaking through the clouds above.

"What I wouldn't give for a Pokemon of my own." Ash said softly, his voice wistful.

He couldn't wait until he was 10 years old and could finally receive a Pokemon of his own officially from Professor Oak. Granted he could have one sooner than that but he'd need someone to catch it for him who was already of age, which meant he was out of luck.

Professor Oak wouldn't do it because he was a regional Professor and under certain restrictions to only gift trainers with starter Pokemon when they turned 10. His mother couldn't do it because she, despite having studied Pokemon under Professor Oak, didn't have one of her own, and his father? The less said about him the better.

Sighing once more, for the final time Ash gave up and pulled his rod from the water before setting it aside and laying down, letting his amber eyes drift shut as he decided to take a nap in the warm sun.

Damian scowled as he looked at the Pokeball firmly clasped in his hand, "Pathetic." The teen sneered. He was average in height with rather long blue hair, wearing black leather pants, a lilac undershirt and a brown cowboy vest over it.

Pressing the button on the Pokeball, he released the Pokemon from inside in a flash of white. In front of him a young Charmander formed from the red energy released, standing beside Damian in the small forest-like clearing they were in.

Charmander was an orange reptilian creature resembling a tailed bipedal salamander with some dinosaur qualities. Charmander had four small fangs visible on its upper and lower jaws, a cream underside and an expansive cream coloration on the sole of its foot. Its most notable feature was the flame burning on the tip of its tail.

"Charmander!" The young fire Pokemon greeted it's Trainer cheerfully.

It wasn't expecting it's Trainer to lash out with a foot and kick it square in the face, knocking it to the ground with a loud cry of pain.

"So pathetic, Charmander!" Damian growled out as he lifted his foot and began stomping on the small fire Pokemon, causing it to give a loud cry of pain each time, "You didn't even come close to beating that Wartortle or even that Sandlash when you battled them!" He sneered once more, his voice oddly sinister.

It didn't matter to him that his older brother had just given him the Charmander freshly hatched from an Egg just a week ago, the only thing that mattered to him was that it was a weak loser Pokemon and it deserved to be treated as such.

"You pathetic little weakling!" Damian shouted as he lifted his leg up once again and delivered a brutal kick right between the ribs of the small Charmander.

"Chaaaaaaaar!" Charmander cried out in pain, it's voice echoing over the clearing.

"Chaaaaaaaar!"

Ash snapped awake at the loud cry of pain echoing around the forest around him.

"A Pokemon?" Ash questioned himself as he jumped to his feet quickly, "It sounds like it's hurt! I've gotta help it!" The young would-be Trainer told himself.

Mind made up, Ash began running towards where he heard cry of pain coming from. Without even a seconds hesitation, Ash ran straight through the forest foliage undeterred and as fast as he could, sprinting towards his destination.

Finally, as he burst through the foliage, Ash came upon a sight that made his blood boil; a blue haired teenager a good few years older than him was kicking a downed Charmander that was covered in small bruises.

Ash stood there, stupefied at the sight; how could someone be so cruel to a Pokemon, and a baby from the looks of it!

"Ha! How'd ya like that ya little piece of shit!" The blue haired teen laughed as he kicked the Charmander once again, taking enjoyment from it, the small Pokemon barely letting out a grunt this time having given up crying out in pain in hopes of help.

The last kick though was enough to snap Ash out of his daze, and with a war cry that caught the blue haired teen by surprise, Ash sprinted right at him and tackled the larger boy to the ground.

Ash didn't give the older boy time to recover and immediately decked the teen in the face with his fist as hard as he could. The older boy gave a loud cry of pain with his nasally voice as his nose erupted in a fountain of blood.

Ash was about to follow up with another punch when to his surprise the older blue haired teen began wailing and crying like a little girl, tears spilling from his eyes and mixing with the blood and snot pouring from his nose.

Snorting in disgust at the older boy, Ash stood up and made his way over to the Charmander that was blearily looking up at him through a blackened eye – which caused another jolt of righteous anger to shoot through Ash before he squashed it – kneeling down he gently picked the small Charmander up into his arms, "It's going to be okay Charmander, I won't let him hurt you." Ash told the fire Pokemon as soothingly as he could.

"Chaaar..." The Charmander responded weakly with a nod, before it's eyes drifted shut and it lost consciousness.

Ash growled again as he got a closer look at the small Pokemon's condition, it definitely needed to go to a Pokemon Center, but the closest one was in Viridian City.

Ash sighed once, before his amber eyes filled with determination and he got ready to begin running towards Viridian City at top speed when he caught sight of something at his feet.

Rolling it over with his foot, Ash grinned as he noticed that it was a Pokeball.

"Perfect!" Ash said to himself as he bent down and laid Charmaner on the ground gently, before picking up the Pokeball in his hand and standing up.

"Charmander, return!" Ash chanted the familiar phrase as he returned the fire lizard Pokemon to the Pokeball in a beam of red energy.

"This will make it so much easier." Ash said to himself as he planted the Pokeball in his pocket before turning on his heel and running through the clearing, in the direction of Viridian City, deliberately stomping on the blue haired teen as hard as he could as he went past for good measure, causing the older boy to cry out in pain, but Ash gave him no sympathy as he made towards Viridian City a fast as his small legs could take him.

"Don't worry mom, I'll come home first thing tomorrow morning." Ash told his mother, not a trace of doubt in his tone. It wasn't like he was in any danger after all, he was at a Pokemon Center.

Delia Ketchum sighed in defeat, but smiled gently at her precious son nonetheless. "Okay dear, but remember to be careful on your way back." The youthful looking mother told her son.

"And Ash?" Delia questioned softly over the video phone.

"Yeah mom?" Ash asked in return.

Delia smiled at him form her side of the video phone, "I'm very proud of you." she told him, "Helping a Pokemon in need was very brave of you." The young mother praised her son.

Ash felt his face heat up and he turned to look away in embarrassment as his mother chuckled softly. "Bye mom." Ash said as he lifted his hand.

"Goodbye sweetie, have a pleasant night." Delia responded as Ash hung up the video phone.


	6. Chapter 6

**What the crap is this? I have no memory of ever writing this. In fact, I don't ever remember being at a point where I wanted to write such an edgy piece of crap. Gather around folks, this might just be the biggest dud of all. Hell, it might not even be me that wrote this. But I found it buried in my folders, so I figured I'd put it up here with the other duds.**

 **..Hell I don't even know where the plot is going with this since it's basically just skimming over so much. Actually not even skimming, but outright skipping.**

* * *

Life.

It was one simple four letter word, yet it contained so much meaning. Meaning, that not even the greatest of minds could completely fathom and would never be able to, because life was not meant to be understood it was only meant to be lived.

Life for me though... I thought I had it all planned and figured out. I'd catch a ton of Pokemon, I would then train them to the best of my ability, take on the Pokemon League win it, then go on to conquer the Elite Four and the Champion of the Kanto Region, Lance Wataru.

It's funny how life throws you curve balls now and then though. The leader of Team Rocket a criminal syndicate out to rule the world through the use of Pokemon, had theorized that I was sheltering his 'ultimate' creation from him after rescuing the Pokemon a while back. So old ruthless Giovanni had led an attack on my home town of Pallet in hopes of uncovering Mewtwo and recapturing the cloned Legendary Pokemon.

I wasn't sheltering Mewtwo though, hadn't even seen the Psychic Pokemon for months since I and a few friends saved him from Team Rocket. So in the end, Giovanni just ordered the town razed to the ground.

He was driven off eventually, thanks in no small part to the combined effort of Professor Oak's Pokemon and the well trained Pokemon me and my one time rival Gary Oak had left behind at the Oak Ranch.

But, it was not without casualties on either side and the most devastating being that my mother Delia Ketchum had been burned alive by a team of Charizard along with her trusty Mr. Mime who had tried to fight the large Fire Dragons off.

I took a sick sense of pleasure from hearing that the team of Charizard along with their Team Rocket handlers were killed in a rage induced surprise attack by three of my own Pokemon, Bulbasaur, Kingler and Snorlax.

I didn't even hear of the attack until a few days later, the electric lines for Pallet Town had been cut so that no calls for help could be made and it was a real bone shaking terror that filled my body when I had been walking past a Tv in a Pokemon Center in the Johto Region and heard about the attack on a news report.

That period of time was a blur for me, even now I couldn't quite remember the entirety of it. I abandoned my journey through the Johto Region, leaving my two travelling companions Brock and Misty behind and made a call to the Charicific Valley.

Charizard made it to me within a few hours, and hopping on his back we - Pikachu on my shoulder - raced off towards Pallet Town. Abandoning my Johto League challenge, with only 4 out of the 8 needed badges to compete in the Silver Conference, not like it mattered because at that time I was busy with more important things.

My blood boiled in my veins when I saw the wreckage that was Pallet Town. So what if I was to be compensate by the insurance agencies for my house and my mothers death? Money couldn't bring her back.

After a night of staying in Pallet Town, my mind had been made up. Giovanni would not get away with what he had taken from me!

Professor Oak and Tracy tried to wane me off of my chosen path, but I would not be dissuaded and I demanded the right to carry every Pokemon I had, or else I would cut my ties with Pallet Town and become a wanderer where it was within the law for me to carry all of my Pokemon, for there would be no home to send them to.

The elderly Professor was too sentimental to allow me to cut ties with Pallet, and would not have allowed me to go out on a life endangering quest without any support at all, within the law or not. So he made a few calls to the League community, pulled a few strings and got me the required clearance to carry all Pokemon I captured.

I had decided that very night, that I needed every single Pokemon I could get and thus decided to recall the ones out training or attending other duties, it may have been selfish of me but I was too focused on revenge to care other wise, and my Pokemon were loyal enough to return without much complaint.

Pidgeot, Primeape, Squirtle and Haunter were even happy to return to my side when they learned of my plans. They may not have agreed with them, but they would never have allowed me to venture into such danger without them by my side to help me.

Sadly, I had no idea where Lapras or Butterfree ended up after I allowed them to go their separate ways from me and my other Pokemon. It was a pity, Lapras' Ice attacks and the varied status effecting moves Butterfree could use would have been very helpful on my 'quest'.

It impeded me in no way though, early the next morning without informing anyone of my leave, I got on Pidgeot's back and took off in search of Team Rocket. A newly acquired double magnetic belt holding the seventeen Pokeballs of all my Pokemon, Pikachu's included just in case, though the yellow electric rat himself was once more on my back where he enjoyed being.

My first stop, was in Viridian City where I knew for a fact Giovanni held ties to being its Gym Leader for a time and all.

My spirits dropped slightly, because after a few days of scouring I found nothing besides a few rumours that could point me

My luck picked up though, a day later when I ran into the trio of Team Rocket stooges that had been so dead intent on stealing Pikachu from me.

Imagine my surprise when they got down on their knees and begged for my forgiveness. They had no idea the attack was going to take place or else they would have warned me, they wanted no part in murdering innocent people. They continued to tell me that they had deserted the ranks of Team Rocket and were going into hiding, but before they left they handed me a piece of paper with every Team Rocket base and operation they could think of named on it.

I allowed them to to leave unharmed, because I was suddenly thankful for all the time they'd spent following me around. As unorthodox as it was, it taught me how to look over my shoulder and not just blindly assume I was safe.

My next plan of action involved me leading an attack on the Rocket Base hidden underneath the Game Corner in Celadon City.

I, along with my Pokemon, barely made it out alive. The majority of the grunts in the base were no problem to take care of, but there was just so many of them that kept on coming. Finally, the grunts were done and I moved on to the elites, that were few in number yet very good trainers.

By the time I was done with them, every single Pokemon I had was exhausted. And then I was blind-sided by the two Rockets running the Celadon branch of operations. Petrel and Proton were supposedly very high up in the Team Rocket hierarchy.

Battling against all twelve of the Pokemon between the two Rocket executives took me and my Pokemon to our very limits.

But, it was not unexpected. Especially not when reviewing their teams of Pokemon. Petrel with his Umbreon, Muk, Crobat, Arbok, Skunktank and Metagross, and then Proton with his own team consisting of an Espeon, Venasaur, Steelix, Weezing, Crobat and Houndoom.

In the end, I only walked away the winner because Haunter pushed himself to the limit and beyond, forcing himself to evolve into Gengar and defeat the last standing Pokemon, Petrel's Metagross with an extremely powerful Shadow Ball attack.

It dawned on me then, that I was lucky and just wasn't at the level needed to take on an organization like Team Rocket.

And so began a period of time that just bled from days, to weeks and finally into months. Training my Pokemon to the very limits each day day that consisted of blood, sweat and tears of us all.

In that time, I'd convinced Bulbasaur to let go of his fear of evolving because I needed him to reach the pinnacle of his power. Squirtle, as Bulbasaur's self appointed rival would not let the newly formed Ivysaur get far ahead of him and so once more donned his 'cool' sunglasses and pushed himself to the very limits for days on end until he evolved into a Wartortle.

It was two weeks into the training that a big surprise came my way, Pikachu took the Thunderstone I had kept way back from our time against Lt. Surge and his Raichu, and my starter and partner took it upon himself to try and fulfil my wishes evolving into a Riachu, despite his reservations in becoming his fully evolved form.

I questioned whether he even needed the stone, having long since reached the point where others of his kind would evolve, but I think it was more a mental block than anything. The Stone forced him to evolve, so he used it as opposed to letting it happen naturally so his own hesitance wouldn't stop the change. I was humbled by his determination to help me.

So the weeks bled into months. Bayleef became a Meganium, Cyndaquil a Quilava and Totodile a Croconaw. My newly hatched Phanphy that I had won as an egg during a race in my Johto journey swiftly followed the others lead after a month or two and became a powerful Donphan.

Four months into my quest for revenge on Team Rocket and Giovanni, after destroying another base of operations for the Rockets I became privy to a series of operations going on in the Johto Region.

I sprung all four major operations, three of which that had been sanctioned by a scientist going by the name of Mamba.

I tracked down the so called 'Iron Masked Marauder' and destroyed his plans for capturing the Legendary Pokemon Celibi in one of his 'Dark' Pokeballs created by Mamba, a series of Pokeballs that could supposedly even capture another trainers Pokemon.

I showed him I could do that as well. I made him release his Tyranitar under threat of death, then I had my entire team of seventeen Pokemon swarm the newly wild beast of a Pokemon and beat it into submission before tossing a Pokeball and capturing it for myself. Sweet sweet revenge tasted so good.

To finish things up with the man, I ordered Primeape to beat him within an inch of his life and then left him in an unconscious bleeding heap.

My next course of action was to head on over to the whirl islands. I didn't even give the Rocket members Biff or whatever his name was, and Cassidy the chance to attack me back when I had Raichu shock them into unconsciousness with a Thunderbolt attack.

I was brutal and merciless and I didn't care. Ever since my mother had died, I felt hollow, as if there was a massive hole in my heart that needed to be filled, yet there was nothing that could fit in that void.

I rescued the wild mother Lugia and the baby Lugia named 'Silver', and then I had the Tyranitar that formerly belonged to The Iron Masked Maurader rampage through their underwater base, trashing it beyond repair.

Sadly, Mamba had left the base just a few days before I had launched my attack so he ended up escaping my wrath, for the moment at least.

I tracked the crazy scientist to another Rocket Base in Mahogany Town, where they were using radio waves to force Pokemon into rage filled frenzies and evolve.

Their leading subject in that project was a truly massive Gyarados that left me in awe. It's massive amounts of power and red colouring made it a truly rare and magnificent beast.

So, I stole it.

I waited for them to take the extremely powerful red Gyarados out on a test drive, so to speak. Then I ambushed them, A hypnosis from Gengar sent all the Rockets into blissful unconsciousness before they knew what hit them, and then a combined Thunder-Thunderbolt from Riachu and Gengar, and a dual Solbarbeam from Ivysaur and Meganium brought down the Gyarados before it could break from of its restraints and attack.

From there, it was a simple Pokeball toss to make the Gyarados mine.

The beast took me weeks to tame and bond with, and in the end it settled to listening to me between a mutual want of revenge on Team Rocket and, eventually, respect - though that would take months to earn. I fell upon the Mahogany Rocket base with a holy vengeance a few days later, and the red Gyarados was my weapon upon them.

I heard that mamba was crushed to death in the panic to escape from Gyarados. Gyarados and I laughed ourselves silly imagining and acting out how the scene had played out – Gyarados made a shockingly hilarious 'cowering human who goes splat impression. All of this playing around, in retrospect, was a very good indicator of how much I had changed.

Finally, there was only one operation left to 'stop' before I moved on to hunting Giovanni.


	7. Chapter 7

"Go Hydreigon!" Cameron called out as he released his admittedly most powerful Pokemon up first in hopes of taking an early lead against Ash.

Hydreigon appeared in a flash of blue light, roaring it's challenge loudly over the cheering crowd. Hydreigon was a three-headed, dragon-like Pokémon. Hydreigon had six thin, black wings on its back each of which ended in two points. On Hydreigon's neck was a fuchsia-colored flower-like collar which opened to its head. The main head was a dark blue and its eyes black with fuchsia pupils. Its hands, also black, harbored a head in each one; these heads were also blue with black eyes. There were small collars on the inside of Hydreigon's hands. On its abdomen were two overall-like fuchsia stripes. Its feet appeared atrophied, having no claws or defined soles and two or three small toes. Its tail also sported a fuchsia stripe with a black tuft on the end of it.

Ash grinned from the opposite side of the field, "I'm glad I thought ahead to request some of my other Pokemon from back in Kanto." The raven haired trainer commented as he lifted a Pokeball up clenched in his palm, "Let's go Buizel!" Ash shouted as he released his Pokemon from inside in a flash of blue energy.

"Bui bui!" Buizel grunted as he appeared on the battlefield arms crossed in his typical 'cool' pose. Buizel possessed mainly mammalian characteristics with orange fur and paws as well as resembling a realistic cross between a weasel and a sea otter. The collar that was around its neck could be inflated and used as a flotation device when the Pokémon inhaled. Buizel also carried characteristics of sea creatures, in that it had two blue fins on its arms and two tails, appearing to be split up, that resembled a fish's fin. Its tail acted as a boat propeller by spinning. There were parallel marks on his cheeks. Additionally, Buizel had cream-colored paw pads on both its fore- and hind-feet.

"Hydreigon vs Buizel, Round 1 begin!" The referee called as he stepped back from the battlefield, lowering his red flag and holding up the red one.

Cameron immediately sprung into action, "Hydreigon Tri-attack!" He shouted as he fist-pumped.

Hydreigon roared from all three heads before firing three separate beams of energy, one of electricity, one of ice and one of fire, racing towards Buizel who stood unputurbed.

"Aqua Jet right over it." Ash commanded sharply.

Buiel obeyed instantly, surrounding himself in a vortex of water Buizel shot up an over the three beams of different elements and raced over the field, crashing straight into hydreigon's chest, the large dragon giving a roar of pain and surprise at the speed of the attack as it tumbled from the air.

Ash smirked as Cameron gave a cry of worry, no mercy this league; he was not going home the loser this time. "Come down with it and give it a bunch of Ice Punches!" Ash ordered quickly to Buizel who was still attached to Hydreigon's chest.

"Bui!" Buizel shouted in agreement as both of his fists lit up with light blue energy and he began to lay haymaker after haymaker into Hydreigon's chest as they fell to the earth below.

A few seconds later, Buizel laid one last fist into Hydreigon's chest before backflipping off and landing a few metres away as the large Dragon and Dark Type frosted over in a block of ice and crashed into the ground.

"Hydreigon!" Cameron panicked.

"Finish it!" Ash shouted to his Pokemon, "Sonic Boom!

"Bui Bui!" Buizel shouted in confirmation as he launched himself into a flip and snapped both tails forward so fast it sounded like they broke the sound barrier and launching two compressed blades of wind shooting speedily across the field at the frozen over Hydreigon.

"Noooo!" Cameron cried out in worry and dismay as the Sonic Boom struck Hydreigon's form and exploded, covering the field in smoke.

When the smoke cleared it revealed Hydreigon splayed flat out on it's stomach, swirls in it's eyes and completely unconscious.

"Hydreigon is unable to battle, Buizel is the winner!" The referee called out as the crowd roared in applause.

Cameron sighed in dismay as he returned his Pokemon to it's Pokeball, but perked up as he grabbed his next one, "Okay then, let's go for it Ferrothorn!" Cameron called out as he revealed his next Pokemon.

Ferrothorn was a Pokémon resembling a flattened durian made of metal. Its body was covered in metal thorns, with three black stripes circling its width, the lower stripe having triangular decorations below the eyes of Ferrothorn. Its eyes had green rims, yellow scleras, and dark pupils. There was a green spike at the top of its body, and extending around it were vine-like, long green appendages tipped with spiky metal disks.

Ash raised an eyebrow at the choice but raised his hand Pokeball clasped firmly in it, "Return Buizel." He stated as he recalled his first Pokemon into its Pokeball and switched it with another from his belt, "You're up next, Infernape!" Ash shouted loudly as he released one of his most powerful fighters.

Its body was primarily a brownish-red color, with sections of white fur on its chest, head and legs, and a large flame burning on its head that never went out. Infernape wore two gold chest rings in place of a chest plate. It also had swirl-patterned gold shoulder pads, knee pads, and wrist bands. Infernape's sclera were yellow, and its irises were blue just like it's hands, toes, and inner ears were also blue.

"Pin Missile!" Cameron ordered quickly, near enough desperate for a chance to take the lead of the match.

Ferrothorn grunted as it launched almost two dozen arrows made up of white energy speeding towards Infernape.

Ash grinned, "Take them down with Mach Punch!" He commanded.

Infernape nodded his head, punching his fists together and causing them to glow a bright white just as the arrows of Pin Missile were upon him. Infernape launched into a rapid series of punches, his arms a blur as he punched straight through the energy arrows and dissolving them into nothing.

Cameron opened his mouth to order another attack, but Ash wasn't going to allow him the chance, "Flare Blitz!" The raven haired trainer commanded sharply.

Infernape obeyed, his body becoming enshrouded in red hot flames that burned into a bright neon blue and shot like a rocket straight at ferrothorn, the dual Grass and Steel Type giving a cry of fear just before Infernape smashed straight into it, blasting it clear into the wall of the arena a good one hundred feet away.

Ferrothorn fell from the now cratered wall completely unconscious and in need of medical attention.

"Ferrothorn." Cameron cried out as he returned the Pokemon and looked at it's Pokeball worriedly. Sighing the forgetful Trainer switched the Pokeball with another, determined to try and still win the battle.

"Samurott, go!" He called out as he sent out his next Pokemon.

Samurott appeared on Cameron's side of the field with a grunt. Samurott was a quadruped, blue sea lion-like Pokémon. Long, white whiskers extended from its snout and head, and on the back of its head was a large, rounded beige helmet-like shell with spikes and a spear-like, pointed protrusion in the front. Its underbelly was covered by a dull bluish gray seashell-like carapace, and its limbs were covered with beige, sectioned bracer-like coverings, looking as if comprised of seashells with the forelimbs' bracers being the swords called seamitars that it used in battle. The lower two segments of these bracers were the scabbards for the two swords. The upper segment and spike mabe up the seamitar and its handle, respectively. Samurott possessed three navy digits on each limb, and a fin-like, splayed tail with the innermost section being beige like the seashell-like portions of its body.

Unfortunately for Cameron, Ash had no intention of putting his Pokemon in a fight it was in a disadvantage in. "Infernape return!" Ash said as he returned the fire ape to it's Pokeball, placed it back on his belt and looked down at his side to his trusted partner, "Ready?" He asked with a grin to the yellow rodent.

 **I vaguely remember this. Something I wrote when I was only a few chapters in to Sinnoh With Skill, like six years ago.**

* * *

Pikachu gave a large grin and thumbs up, "Pika!" The small yellow mouse Pokemon responded confidently before running out onto the field on all fours.

"Take it down with Hydro Cannon!" Cameron shouted, his voice now clearly desperate.

Samurott gave a roar as it powered up the strongest known Water-Type attack. Opening it's mouth Samurott launched a large glowing sphere of water speeding like a shot towards Pikachu.

Unluckily for Samurott, Pikachu's strongest attribute even after all his years with Ash was his speed and easily followed the attack, jumping to the side and effortlessly evading the powerful attack that left a large crater in the small mouse's previous position.

"Electro Ball." Ash ordered.

Pikachu obeyed and jumped into the air, generating a large sphere of electricity on his tail and launching it speeding towards Samurott, who couldn't dodge because of the resting period after using an attack like Hydro Cannon.

Samurott gave a loud cry of pain as the attack struck home and exploded on impact, electrifying the Water Pokemon's entire body with powerful shocks.

By the time the smoke cleared, Cameron was fretting in worry and Ash had already made his next move, "Volt Tackle." He said calmly.

Pikachu again obeyed and began blitzing towards Samurott at top speed, the little mouse naught but a blur as Samurott struggled back to it's feet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ah, the nostalgia. This really takes me back. The first story I ever posted on this website. This is chapter 4 of it sadly, I couldn't find the others. But if I do, I'll post em too.**

.oOo.

Ash exited the Diglett Cave, having decided to take that route to Vermillion, as opposed to taking Mt. Moon to Cerulean. He saw another Trainer ahead of him glaring at a Pokeball. Curious, Ash got closer.

"Ya lose every fight ah use ya in an' you eat more'n any other two ah mah Pokemon combined. You're useless an' a burden on me, I never wanna see you again Cha'mandah." The Trainer said, his accent heavy. He finished his speech by turning around and carelessly tossing the Pokeball over his shoulder, which popped open with a flash of blue light to reveal a small Charmander.

Ash's hand clenched into a fist at his side at the casual abandonment. He saw the Charmander collapse onto it's behind and look sadly at the blue haired Trainer as he walked away, clearly having heard every word.

Catching the Charmander now would be in terrible taste, but Ash did want to make sure it was okay, so he made to step towards it. The Charmander must have heard his footsteps though, as it suddenly raised it's head and glared at him through watery eyes. With speed uncharacteristic in a Charmander, it stood up and sprinted into the forest.

Ash followed behind it after he heard a screeching sound. Walking into the brush he was right away treated to the sight of the Charmander fighting a large Rattata and Pidgey, and losing. Charmander was clearly the one who started the fight, most likely interrupting a battle between the two Pokemon, because both the rat and bird were already visibly injured.

Despite having the advantage of being well rested the Charmander's technique was killing it. It didn't seem to know how to use Ember yet, proving how young it was, and whenever it managed to score a hit it would never capitalize on it, instead switching targets.

The fight didn't last much longer, and Charmander was left laying face down in the ground before the Rattata and Pidgey both resumed their fight, ignoring it. Once the two were done fighting Ash noticed the Charmander start to move. It got up slowly, the determination etched on it's features so hard set that even someone terrible at reading Pokemon's moods could see it.

Ash crept away, promising himself to keep an eye on the Charmander as it walked off in search of another fight.

Which is exactly what he did. For the next three days Ash watched the Charmander. The first day he was greeted to a great shock. When he managed to find the Charmander again it was a little past noon and he thought it was just a trick of the light, but after a few minutes he realized that the Charmander's tail was gold. Every fight and subsequent loss caused the gold to creep farther across the Charmander's scales.

Two days later Ash was sure of his decision, he was going to catch the Charmander. It wasn't because it was a rare color, nor was it even because it was a Charmander. It was it's attitude. He wanted to be the best, just like Ash, but he couldn't do it alone; just like Ash couldn't have started on his path to being the best if he hadn't matured after Pikachu was injured on his trip to Viridian city.

Ash waited until the fourth day to challenge the Charmander. He noisily approached where he knew he had bedded down for the night with Pikachu on his shoulder. When Ash entered the Charmander's sleeping area he was already awake and waiting for him, thankfully not having run off, just like he'd hoped.

Ash locked eyes with the Charmander, a smirk growing as he returned his challenging stare with one of his own. "Pikachu." He said, not looking away. "Show him our strength, you're on your own."

Pikachu took Ash's words to heart and was off like a shot the second he touched the ground using Quick Attack. The Charmander reacted appropriately to a quick opponent, spinning around, his fiery tail whipping around in a quick slash, but he wasn't quick enough and Pikachu plowed into him. Both Pokemon fell to the ground.

Ash's eyes widened as Charmander, from underneath Pikachu, growled as black smoke and eventually flames peeked out from between his clenched teeth. He was about to use Ember, something he must have learned either in the past few days when Ash wasn't spying on him or right this very second because of Pikachu's clear strength advantage.

Pikachu was quick though and rolled off of him, the attack shooting harmlessly into the air. Charmander, angered at it's failure, dove on top of Pikachu, who was on his back and reared back his claws.

This was exactly what Pikachu wanted though, because the second Charmander wasn't touching the ground anymore his cheeks sparked once. That was the only warning Charmander had before, with a loud cry of "CHUUUU!" Pikachu launched and Thunderbolt at point blank.

Ash couldn't help but wince as time seemed to stand still, the Charmander's body freezing in midair as Pikachu's attack hit it hard. The rules of physics came into play and Charmander shot backwards. Ash stepped closer as Charmander rolled and skidded across the ground, eventually winding up on his back, staring blankly up at the sky, just a hair's breadth away from passing out.

Ash knelt next to the Charmander, holding a Pokeball up so the downed Pokemon could see it. "The choice is yours. Stay here in the forest and continue as you have been, or join me. I promise you I'll never abandon you and do everything in my power to make sure you reach your full potential. We'll both reach our goal, to be the best, together."

The Charmander was silent, staring at him for several second before it slowly reached up, it's arm shaking from exhaustion, and tapped the Pokeball in Ash's hand. It was sucked inside in a burst of red light and the 'Bing' of a successful capture sounded instantly.

.oOo.

Ash watched as Charmander seemed to struggle. He refused to train with his other Pokemon and stick to his training regiment, he seemed too focused on trying to learn new moves instead of focusing on what he already had. Learning new moves wasn't bad, but it looked like he was trying to learn things he wouldn't know until he evolved, at the very least. he was met with nothing but failure and it was making him upset.

"Charmander." He called. "Come here."

Charmander looked at him for a moment before trudging over to him, head bowed.

"I've wanted a Charizard for a long time." Ash started, sounding stern. Charmander sunk into himself a little lower at his tone. "I'm sure you think this is where I call you useless and release you to find a stronger Charmander." He said.

He started shaking, and Ash continued quickly. "There are also ways to force you to evolve, it's not that hard to do. You would be crippled, your potential squandered, but I would have my Charizard and you would get an instant strength boost."

He knelt down and placed his hand under his chin, making him look up at him through teary eyes. "Do you know why I haven't taken any of those options?" He asked softly.

Charmander shook his head, remaining silent.

"Do you know why we aren't in Cerulean City right now fighting their Gym Leader?" He asked.

Charmander once again shook her head.

"It's for the same reason. If I were to rush ahead and fight the Gym Leaders one after another I would undoubtedly fail. In order to gain the Badges to compete in the League I need patience." He placed a hand on Charmander's shoulder, who looked hopeful. "The same goes for you. You're not instantly going to become strong. The path to greatness is a long one, and there are no shortcuts. We both need to take this one evolution, one level, one battle at a time. One day, you'll go toe to toe with Legendary's, I promise," Charmander perked up, all traces of sadness gone. "But right now you need focus on the smaller picture. All my Pokemon will be fast, I want that to be something I can boast. The spinning tail bash you used during your fight with Pikachu was perfect, but you weren't fast enough to make it effective. What'dya say, will the first step towards power be working with me, Pikachu and the rest of our growing family to make yourself faster? Or will you continue doing what you were doing?" He asked the small golden lizard.

Charmander had a fire in his eyes that made Ash smile proudly. "Char!" He said resolutely, his small claws balled into fists in front of him. He spun around and started towards Pikachu.

Ash stepped back and sat on the stump behind him and watched as Charmander and Pikachu converse for a few minutes before they both nodded and jumped away from each other. Pikachu looked hesitant, but sped off in a white blur, attacking Charmander as he tried to fight back. Ash felt like his point hadn't been made clear, but as he moved to get up Charmander spoke up and Pikachu slowed down noticeably.

Ash smiled as he watched Charmander make visible improvements for the rest of the day. It looked like he just needed a bit of perspective.

As he was just about to call his Pokemon over for dinner, he remembered that he forgot to scan what moves Charmander already knew, reaching to his belt he grabbed the PokeDex and flipped it open before pointing it at Charmander and hitting the scan button, "This Charmander has the ability Blaze and currently knows how to use the attacks, Flamethrower, Metal claw, Smokescreen, Ember and Dragon Rush. Note: The move Dragon Rush is hereditary and is extremely rare for one of the Charmander evolution line to know."

As the Pokemon continued to spar against one another, they were startled by a loud shout of "WHAT!?" Coming from their Trainer.

At least now he knew why Charmander never won any of his previous battles... His previous incompetent Trainer didn't scan his moves and therefore didn't find out that despite Charmander being young and at a low level he inherited a bunch of powerful moves from his parents. The trade off of this was he would have to work hard to learn the starter and relatively weaker skills.

Once again Ash didn't notice the small blue jackal-like Pokemon watching him intently from the branch of a tall tree.

.oOo.

Ash sighed as he continued to trek through another forest, he wasn't ashamed to admit he was lost but he was rather put out about it.

Although, at the very least, he'd gotten lucky to stumble upon a small town near the Cerulean power plant, the power to the whole town was cut off and he was asked by the Nurse Joy who ran the Pokemon Center there to check in at the power plant and see what the problem was.

When he finally reached the power plant he found the problem, a bunch of rather rowdy Grimer were leeching the power plant lead by, surprisingly enough, one of their fully evolved forms, a Muk.

From there it was rather simple. He caught the Muk, while it was a pretty strong Muk, it didn't know any good ranged attack's, so Pidgeotto took care of it easily enough and he finished up by catching it and sending it to the Oak Ranch in Pallet Town. After their leader was caught the Grimer fled quickly.

With Muk and the Grimer dealt with the power plant was free to produce electricity again. He was happy to hear from Professor Oak when he reached the Pokemon Center. Oak informed him that Muk was actually a rather docile and playful Pokemon, It seemed the Muk had only wanted to meet the workers at the power plant and hug them.

A Pokemon that only wanted to meet and hug the workers? Heh, who knew?

Of course his luck didn't end there, as he was leaving the Pokemon Center the next morning Nurse Joy asked him if he could take a Pokemon in that had been abandoned by it's Trainer.

Nidoking, Charmander, and now Psyduck? He was starting to feel like an orphanage...

Still, that's how he ended up with a new Psyduck. As it turned out, it's trainer had abandoned it because, with it's chronic headaches, it barely listened to him or her and they thought it was weak, Ash couldn't help but laugh at this obviously novice Trainer's idiocy!

It was a well known fact that Psyduck suffered from headaches because of their ability to manipulate Psychic attacks. The more painful the headache, the more powerful a Psyduck's abilities in Psychic attacks were.

This Psyduck seemed to have a very potent and very painful constant headache, so it was obviously very powerful but had little to no training and was in a lot of constant pain.

So he sent it on over to the Oak Ranch with Muk and the rest of his Pokemon because he'd ordered a TM from a Professor over in Hoenn that could help. While he wouldn't usually take a shortcut like this, because shortcuts generally made Pokemon weaker in the long run, he couldn't just let Psyduck sit and wallow in such obvious pain.

So he'd ordered the TM for Calm Mind, a move that boosted the Special Attack Power of Pokemon by focusing their mind. It would also be a very good move for Psyduck to have because it would be able to clear it's mind and calm it's headache until the pain was non-existent.

When he'd told Professor Oak his plan, the old Professor had actually called him a genius, Ash was honestly surprised not one person had thought of it before, it seemed rather obvious to him.

So far into his musings about the past few days, Ash didn't notice the ground underneath him feel a lot softer than it had for a while and his foot sank in slightly.

Broken from his thoughts Ash looked at his foot before his face took on a look of dawning horror blossomed. Just as he was about to jump from his position, the ground gave way underneath him and he fell straight into a pit hole trap.

Ash fell backwards first into the hole landing harshly on his back. As he lay there wincing at the pain in his back he couldn't help but mutter, "I'm really starting to hate this forest."

.oOo.

After he managed to painfully haul himself from the hole, Ash followed a nearby stream and was rewarded by luckily coming into a clearing at the back of a small house. Walking around the building he came upon an interesting sight.

A young woman wearing red overalls was tending to several Pokemon around her, none of them particularly caught his fancy except the one Staryu lounging in the small river.

As he walked towards her he called out, "Hey, excuse me can you tell me where I am?"

The young woman, startled, jumped to her feet and spun around to meet whoever called her just as Ash reached a few steps in front of her. She put her hand over her chest and took a deep breath, he'd obviously given her a fright.

Ash rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry about that I didn't mean to startle you, I'm Ash, Ash Ketchum." He apologized.

She smiled at him, "It's okay I just wasn't expecting anyone, I'm Melanie by the way." She said as she introduced herself to him.

She looked at him sternly for a moment before asking, "What are you doing here exactly? You're not here to catch Pokemon are you?"

Ash quickly dissuaded her though, "No, no, I'm not here to catch Pokemon, I'm actually just lost." He explained to her, a sheepish grin making it's way to his face.

She smiled in relief, "I'm sorry for being suspicious, but this is a reserve where injured Pokemon come to heal, they've all been abandoned by their Trainers so most of them here tend to shy away from human contact." She explained smiling sadly.

Ash was about to respond but he was cut off by a constant pushing to his legs, looking down he was shocked to see a Bulbasaur trying to push him away, "Bulba, Bulba, Bulba." It repeatedly growled at him as it tried to force him away.

Looking at Melanie for an explanation with a confused look on his face, he was rewarded with another sad smile, "Bulbasaur protects this village, but he doesn't trust humans at all."

Ash 'Oh'd' in understand before looking down at the Bulbasaur sadly, "It's too bad, I'd always wanted a Bulbasaur." Looking at Melanie again he said, "If you could just point my in the direction of Cerulean city I'll gladly get out of you're hair."

Melanie was about to give him the directions he asked for when she was cut off by a giant shadow covering the small cabin and a couple of familiar and annoying voices rang out.

"Prepare for trouble!" A female voice began.

"Make it double!" Another voice added, this one male.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" The female declared.

"James!" The male followed suit.

"Team rocket speed off at the speed of light!" They said together.

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!" They declared enthusiasticly.

Looking up, Ash had to sigh loudly to himself, "Not these morons again, don't they ever learn." He took note of their latest contraption, a small floating stadium with a vacuum hose attached to the front.

As they did another one of there stupid songs that Ash didn't care to listen to, they activated the hose that began a powerful air suction nearly pulling everyone from there feet.

Turning, he saw Melanie ushering Pokemon into her house. Seeing a straggler close by Ash grabbed Staryu from the small lake, intent on making sure they didn't catch any of the Pokemon from the reserve.

When he secured Staryu inside the house he turned back and was shocked to see Bulbasaur pushing a small Oddish through the wind suction, making up his mind Ash quickly ran down behind Bulbasaur and started pushing the small dinosaur-like Pokemon, "Cmon Bulbasaur just a little more!" Ash said through gritted teeth as he used all the strength he could muster to push both Pokemon to the house.

Bulbasaur looked shocked that a human would risk himself for him and Oddish. Bulbasaur pushed against the suction harder as he smirked to himself, maybe not all humans were treacherous.

When they finally managed to get inside the house Team Rocket began to fume, "That little brat! Always messing up our plans!" James seethed.

Meowth laughed, "Not dis time! Now all our targets are in da same place!"

As they began to dance and cheer again, they didn't notice Bulbasaur jumping on top of the small house and smacking the hose away with Vine Whip.

With the hose out of the way and sucking in air from all over the area, Ash smirked because he'd figured out the weakness to the newest machine Team Rocket built.

Unclipping a Pokeball from his belt Ash held it securely and let the beam shoot out and materialize, shockingly enough to those watching, into a completely gold Charmander, "Charmander, Flamethrower straight into that hose!"

Charmander gave a loud 'Charr!' to signal he heard before unleashing a torrent of flames straight into the hose. With all the air getting sucked into the hose, the flames from the attack were powered up and within seconds the machine blew up in a fiery explosion.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!" They all heard, looking up they could all just barely make out the three grunts of Team Rocket as they rocketed through the sky.

"Is everyone okay?" Melanie asked as she came out of the house.

"I just got the wind knocked out of me." Ash joked with a small smirk, that only grew in size as he saw Bulbasaur beside him laughing.

"This village is well protected with Bulbasaur here." Ash said, his eyes trained on the small blue-green dinosaur Pokemon.

Melanie turned to him, "Ash don't you agree Bulbasaur would be an excellent addition to you're team?" She asked.

Ash turned to her, a little confused by her question, "Well yeah, anybody would be lucky to get a Bulbasaur like him in their team." He replied honestly.

"I think Bulbasaur should go with you," Melanie said, Ash looked up a little shocked at her declaration, "Bulbasaur stayed here to protect the weaker Pokemon, but they shouldn't need protecting. He's done a good a job protecting them and now they don't want to leave because it's safe. They're supposed to go back into the wild where they may one day meet a great trainer like you to accompany." She explained at his look.

Ash stared intently at Bulbasaur as Melanie continued, "Bulbasaur still has a lot of growing to do, and I'm sure that place is with you."

Ash smiled, "Well if you really want to."

Bulbasaur looked up smiling, "Bulba Bulbasaur." He intoned.

Ash smiled, understanding the meaning perfectly, "A battle then? Bring it on." Looking down to his side at Charmander who was still standing there he asked, "Charmander?"

Charmander had taken to trying to look 'Cool' lately, or so Ash assumed, he rose his clawed fist up and clenched it before pointing it at Bulbasaur and declaring, "Mander char!"

Bulbasaur jumped out of Melanie's arms as everyone spread out to give the two battlers room.

Bulbasaur decided to start things off and charged straight at Charmander with what Ash could barely make out as a Double-edge attack thanks to the light white glow surrounding Bulbasaur. Smirking Ash spoke up, "Wait for it Charmander." Charmander listened and stayed perfectly still. When Bulbasaur was a few feet away Ash quickly ordered, "Now spin and use Dragon Rush!" Charmander obeyed immediately and swung his tail, now glowing a dark blue, smacking it straight into Bulbasaur, canceling out it's attack and launching it across the grassy field.

Bulbasaur looked to have taken a lot of damage from the powerful dragon attack as it struggled to its feet. Ash was shocked when it growled loudly before launching a small tornado of glowing leaves straight at Charmander, "Leaf storm!?" Ash questioned in disbelief, as the leaves streaked towards Charmander. Ash quickly ordered, hoping the plan that came to mind would work out, "Charmander Dragon Rush on the ground and launch yourself into the air and then finish it with Flamethrower!"

Charmander obeyed instantly, smacking his glowing blue tail into the ground and actually shocked Bulbasaur and the onlookers as it flew straight above the Leaf Storm. Charmander flipped forward while in mid air and launched a powerful stream of fire straight at Bulbasaur, who had no time to dodge as it was recovering from launching such a powerful attack and was hit dead on.

When the flames passed Bulbasaur was left barely conscious on the grassy field. Ash, seeing his chance, palmed a Pokeball from his belt quickly and launched it, "You're mine Bulbasaur!"

As soon as Bulbasaur was inside the Pokeball, it dinged almost instantly thanks to the amount of damage done to the grass Pokemon as well as the fact that Bulbasaur wanted to become his Pokemon.

Half an hour later, Ash with Bulbasaur by his side waved goodbye to Melanie as they headed towards Cerulean City.

.oOo.

Ash inhaled a deep breath of fresh air as he walked around the small town he was staying in for the night. He'd left all of his Pokemon in his room at the local Pokemon Center because he wanted them to get to know each other better. They didn't really get much time to spent time together with all the traveling around and training they did.

Still, he was glad he decided to keep Bulbasaur on his main team, he usually got some of his other younger and weaker Pokemon transferred over from the Oak Ranch so he could train and bond with them as well. Bulbasaur was a great help because he seemed to enjoy looking after the younger Pokemon and making sure they didn't hurt themselves, although even Bulbasaur had some trouble keeping his overly happy Eevee from injuring itself with the amount of stunts it pulled.

He tended to bring Eevee out during night most of the time when it was with him because he was sure when it finally evolved into an Umbreon it would be a lot calmer, at least he hoped so.

He was happy to note that Nidoking enjoyed being his Pokemon even if it wasn't constantly with him, although he was surprised when he found out it had been training on it's own and had perfected it's Hyperbeam. While it was still comparatively weak it was only because Nidoking was still young, even if it was fully evolved.

He was passing by the slums of the town now and was broken from his thoughts when he heard a small whimper. Curious, he looked over where the sound came from and heard it again coming from around the back of a building.

Picking up his pace from a leisurely stroll to a moderate jog, he made his way around the building to find a worrying sight, A small blackish canine like Pokemon he could barely make out as a Houndour was laying on the ground struggling to get up, he could see that it was obviously injured due to the bruises littering it's body.

The Attacker was a large Machoke, it had a couple of Machop unconscious laying near it so the Houndour obviously put up quite a fight, sadly though it looked young and a part Dark type like Houndour were at a disadvantage to Fighting types like Machoke.

Reaching to his belt, Ash was about to grab Pidgeotto's Pokeball when he remembered he'd left it at the Pokemon Center, along with the rest of his Pokemon, and cursed his stupidity.

Looking up he saw the Machoke advancing on the Houndour with a glowing white fist.

It looked like it was trying to finish off the poor canine Pokemon with Focus Punch. Ash cursed again. Such a powerful attack on a Pokemon like Houndour, weakened as it was, may actually kill it.

It took only a split second for Ash to make his mind up.

He started at a fast sprint and caught the Machoke by surprise as he rammed straight into it's side with his shoulder and, thanks to his speed and momentum, actually managed to roughly throw the large muscular Fighting type roughly to the ground a few feet away.

He wasted no time and turned to the injured Houndour, who had a shocked expression on it's face. Ash ignored it, he already had his hand in his back pocket, grabbing one of his empty Pokeballs he set it down in front of Houndour before looking it in the eye and speaking, "Get in the Pokeball, you'll be safe, it can't hurt you inside there!" With that said he turned back to the Machoke that was now back on it's feet and advancing on them again.

Houndour looked tempted to follow Ash's orders and was about to get inside the Pokeball when it heard a cry of pain. Looking up it was shocked to be just in time to catch Ash attempting to charge the Machoke and buy it some time, only for the fighting type to launch a devastating Mega Kick right into Ash's midsection followed by a loud snap as Ash fell to the ground holding his ribs, tears of pain welling up in his eyes.

The Machoke began advancing on Houndour again, but was stopped once again by the recklessly stubborn 10 year old grabbing onto it's leg and pulling with all the strength he had. Looking at Houndour again Ash pleaded, "Get in the Pokeball! I can't hold it any longer!"

Machoke turned back to the downed figure of Ash, fury radiating in it's eyes as it raised it's now once again glowing white fist powering up a Focus Punch and preparing to slam it down on Ash.

Houndour 's shock was at an all time high as it saw the Trainer that had saved it about to be killed.

Just as Machoke was about to slam the Focus Punch down upon Ash, Houndour howled in sudden rage and glowed a bright white, stopping Machoke's attack in surprise.

Houndour, as it glowed the white light of evolution, began to grow in size right before Ash's very eyes. It grew horns and it's tail elongated. He got his first look at Pokemon's Evolution first hand.

When the light died down, where before there was a small, scared and injured Houndour, stood a tall, powerful and proud Houndoom.

Ash looked at the newly evolved Pokemon in awe before he slowly brought his PokeDex from his belt and hit the scan button, "Houndoom, the Dark Pokemon. The evolved form of Houndour. Houndoom's Eerie Howl is said to cause those who hear it to shudder in fear. This Houndoom has the ability Flash Fire and currently knows to use the attacks, Flamethrower, Smog, Solar Beam and Giga Impact." Ash looked up at the Dual fire/dark type Pokemon in shock, he could believe as a Houndour it new Flamethrower and Smog, but it shouldn't know much else because it looked so young, only a few months old he'd bet. Did it instinctively learn the other two extremely powerful attack's when it evolved to protect him?

Machoke didn't seem to care that Houndoom had evolved, it charged straight at Houndoom with a loud cry of, "Choooke!"

Houndoom glared at the rapidly approaching Machoke and sprinted straight at it, a purple aura generating around it as it reached Machoke in seconds and plowed right into it, overpowering it easily and launching it across the street and straight into the side of the building where it collapsed in a daze.

Even in his injured state as he stood up, Ash noted that the Giga Impact was nowhere near perfect, it lacked the yellowish barrier that appeared around the purple aura, which increased the damage done by the Giga Impact itself several times (as it was, slamming into the building was probably what hurt the Machoke the most) but still, Ash had to admit even imperfect Houndoom's Giga Impact packed quite a punch.

Houndoom stared at the Machoke for a second longer, before turning it's back on Ash and walking up to the Pokeball and picking it up with it's mouth, turning back around to face Ash once again it walked straight up to Ash, the Pokeball still in it's mouth, and surprised Ash by pointing to him then itself with it's tail.

Ash laughed but stopped himself with a wince and grabbed his rib again and looked at Houndoom, who had a worried look on it's face, "You mean even now that you're not in any danger you're still willing to go in the Pokeball?" Ash asked with a growing grin on his face. Houndoom, if trained properly, could be extremely powerful.

Houndoom grinned around the Pokeball in it's mouth and nodded it's head, "Doom doom!" It barked through the ball as it spit it into Ash's hand.

Ash was about to touch the Pokeball to it's head when they both heard a loud, "Chooke!" Turning around both of them went on alert again as they saw the Machoke charging at them again. Houndoom was about to jump in front of Ash and protect the one it had chosen as it's new Trainer when Machoke was plowed into again, this time from the side by a small whirling blue ball of energy that launched it clear into yet another building, this time landing in an unconscious heap on the ground.

Both Ash and Houndoom turned to the direction the attack came from and where shocked when a small blue bipedal jackal-like Pokemon dropped in front of them and bowed on one knee. They both heard one word echo through their minds.

" _Master."_

.oOo.

The next morning Ash set out on his journey again, intent on making it to Cerulean City, his ribs tightly wrapped in a bandage and a few pain killers prescribed by Nurse Joy, who luckily for Ash doubled as the head doctor over at the local, more human oriented, hospital.

He'd transferred Houndoom over to the Oak ranch so that it could relax from it's ordeal with the Machop and Machoke for a while before he started on it's training. Plus he needed to devise a training schedule for it and it's Pidgeotto-like affection for him. The only thing different was that it was a male Pokemon, and having it try and lick his face every few minutes was getting uncomfortable. More in the respect that Houndoom was a large Pokemon compared to him and knocked him to the ground, something that wasn't good for his ribs.

Still, he mused, he was leaving the town with another addition to his party.

Looking down at the newest addition to his team, a shrunken Pokeball attached to a silver chain around his neck. He wouldn't be letting it get out that he had this Pokemon until the League, he wanted to use it as a sweeper and secret weapon.

Plus it would do him good to hide it for a while until all of his Pokemon were a lot stronger. This little guy was incredibly rare and he didn't want to have to deal with Pokemon thieves until he was sure he could handle them easily.

He could take no chances when it came to his slowly growing family, to even lose one of them would be a devastating loss to him.

.oOo.

Ash walked on. enjoying the sunset as he cut through a shortcut towards the nearest town. The sun setting over the water of the ocean made for nice scenery as he trekked across the beach, leaving footprints in his wake imprinted in the sand.

Pikachu was currently asleep inside his backpack, the soothing sounds from the ocean had made the little Electric type sleepy.

Ash sighed to himself as he looked down and examined the Pokeball hanging from his neck, when he reached the next town he'd have to put in a lot of research to find out how he could go about training the Pokemon inside, although he was certain all the work he would certainly put into it's training in the future would be well worth it.

He was broken from his musings when he felt his foot collide with something hard and almost sent him stumbling. Looking down he was surprised to see a small Krabby now sitting atop his shoe.

Looking at it's small size Ash could easily tell it was only a couple of weeks old at most. Reaching into his back pocket he grabbed an empty Pokeball before grinning at the Krabby, who was now looking up at him curiously, "Sorry about this little guy." With it still on his foot, Ash instantly kicked his foot upwards and sent the small Krabby soaring before launching the Pokeball at the skyward water Pokemon.

When the Pokeball hit, Krabby was immediately sucked inside. As the Pokeball fell from air it moved from side to side a few times before it glowed red and gave a loud 'Ding' signifying Krabby was captured just as the Pokeball fell into Ash's outstretched hand.

In his other hand Ash pointed his PokeDex at the Pokeball and hit the scan button, "This Krabby has the ability Hyper Cutter and currently knows the attacks, Bubble, Vice Grip and Water Gun."

Ash examined the Pokeball for a moment before he hit the transfer button on his PokeDex and watched as the Pokeball disappeared in a flash of white, "Hmm, I can work with that. Better wait till Krabby has grown a little more before I start training it first though." Ash stated to himself thoughtfully before continuing on his trek across the beach determined to reach the next town by the next day.

.oOo.

Ash grumbled to himself all the while as he tried pull himself out of a hole in the middle of the road. He'd only needed to get to the end of this road and he'd be in the next town! Yet as he was around fifty feet away the ground suddenly sunk in below him and he fell straight into a pit hole trap. He swore that if it was those morons from Team Rocket again he'd let his Pokemon use them for target practice.

When he finally managed to haul himself from the hole Ash stood up and took a deep breath, he had a large bruise forming on the side of his face because to protect Pikachu, who was in his backpack from the fall he'd been forced to land face first.

He was interrupted from checking himself over for injuries by a series of strange laughing noises. Whirling around in anger to confront whoever set the hole he was met by a very nice sight.

Ash's face went from red with anger straight to madly grinning as he saw the perpetrators, "Well well well, look who's lucky streak is continuing." He said to nobody in particular as he gazed over the five Squirtle pointing and laughing at the bruise on his face.

He had to admit these Squirtle had character. Four of the them were wearing wide black lens tinted glasses, as if they were Mafia underlings, but the one that caught his attention the most was the Squirtle that was obviously their leader. It stood in front of the other four and was wearing a pair of black tinted shades.

Of course as they all laughed at the grinning Ash, they never once thought about why he was grinning until they were all attacked from behind and hit with a powerful Thunderbolt attack, sending them all to the ground, barely conscious, only still awake because they had all taken the powerful attack together, dispersing the damage among them.

From behind the group of Squirtle an angry Pikachu with a tick mark on it's eyebrow glared at them.

Ash reached into his back pocket once again and grabbed five shrunken Pokeballs between his fingers, bringing them out he one by one enlarged them and threw them at the five Squirtle until all that was sitting in the middle of the road were five Pokeballs.

Gripping his PokeDex he aimed it at four of the Pokeballs and transferred them to the Oak ranch before walking over and picking up the final Pokeball, the one that belonged to the leader of the group.

Holding the PokeDex to the Pokeball he hit the scan button, "This Squirtle has the ability Torrent and currently knows the attacks, Water Gun, Skull Bash, Rapid Spin and Aqua Jet. Note: The move Aqua Jet is hereditary and is very rare for one of the Squirtle evolution line to know."

Ash frowned as he heard that, "Something fishy is going on here, why is it most of the Pokemon I catch seem to have rare and powerful moves? Regardless, I'm not going to complain. The more advantages my Pokemon get the better." He muttered to himself.

Looking forward, the next town was clear in sight and Ash couldn't help the giddy laugh at came from his mouth. He could finally get some directions and hopefully find Cerulean City!

.oOo.

Ash leaned against the banister and crossed his arms as he watched the 'Sensational Sisters' go about their routine. Despite being here for a Gym Battle he had to admit they had a good amount of talent outside Pokemon battling, as their many fans could attest to.

Looking to his shoulder Ash couldn't help but smirk as he saw Pikachu staring at their routine with wide appreciative eyes. He could of swear he saws stars in his Pokemon's eyes as he watched them. It was strange for an Electric type to like water and water related activities as much as Pikachu did, but then again, none of his Pokemon were really normal.

Looking back as he heard a collective groan coming from the many male fans, he noticed that the sisters had finished up their show and were heading backstage.

Standing back up from his leaning position Ash began making his way downstairs and past the fans. The show was good and all, but he was here for the Cascade Badge, nothing more.

.oOo.

Ash closed his eyes and pinched his nose in frustration, he'd walked all over the building and had yet to find the three sisters. Annoyed, he walked all the way back out into the pool area and was surprised to find the three girls.

Walking up behind them he interrupted their conversation, "Excuse me, but I'd like to challenge you to a Gym Battle." Ash spoke up politely.

They turned to him with surprised looks on their faces before the blonde sister, Daisy he thought her name was, laughed sheepishly, "We don't feel much like battling anymore." She told him.

"What?" Ash asked, startled that she just blew his challenge off so easily. That had never happened before. When he'd challenged any other Trainer during his travels, although they probably wished they'd said no after he defeated them without much effort and took took his winnings, they still didn't hesitate to accept beforehand. Rejection was a completely alien concept to the boy from Pallet.

"We just got beaten three times in a row, by kids from this nowhere place called Pallet town." Violet the blue haired sister pointed out.

Them pointing out that the other three trainers who started a few hours before him all beat him there did nothing to dissuade Ash's confidence. While they were rushing through the Gym Battles he'd been catching and training his Pokemon to the best of their abilities. He was sure he could beat all three of them, including Gary, rather easily. Going by what he'd heard from Professor Oak when he'd called the Oak ranch a few days back he currently had the most Pokemon with an even 64 captures, while Gary was the closest having only caught 37.

"It was just one defeat after another, my eyes were spinning from all the losses." Violet continued, ignorant of his inner thoughts.

"We had to, like, practically rush all our Pokemon to the Pokemon Center." Daisy added.

The final sister, Lily, and by far the prettiest as far as Ash could see, pulled a Pokeball from her underneath her swim suit. Ash, despite himself, could only think of a few places she could keep it, and they weren't very practical, nor comfortable. "This is the only Pokemon we have left." She said as she enlarged the ball and threw it to the floor.

The ball opened and in a flash of light a small Goldeen was floundering around on the ground, Ash couldn't help but sigh in disappointment.

"Unless it evolves into a Seaking we can't use it to battle, so there's no point in battling." Violet told him.

"Now instead of battling we have more time to make ourselves look beautiful." Lily piped in a happy smile on her face.

Daisy closed her eyes and smiled, "I know what you want." Clapping her hands she called out, "Seel!"

Looking to the water he saw a Seel emerge from the surface and jump out of the pool. The Seel turned to them before it stuck its tongue out and Ash was a little freaked out see a small blue water-drop shaped object on it's tongue. Daisy bent down and plucked it from the Pokemon's tongue before holding it up and presenting it to Ash, "Here the Cascade Badge, that's what you want right? You can have it." She told him.

Ash sighed before reaching out to take it, "I'd rather earn my Badge, but a Badge is a Badge I suppose." He told them.

"Hold it right there!" A familiar and annoying voice called out.

Ash groaned loudly, surprising the Sensational Sisters, who turned just in time to see him smack his palm against his face, "Dammit... It's that creepy stalker girl again!" He moaned to the girls, Just as Misty jumped from the stands and landed beside them.

"Creepy?" Daisy said sounding confused.

"Stalker?" Violet continued.

"Girl?" Lily finished.

All three of them sported blank looks on their faces before they started laughing as if it was the funniest thing they'd ever heard.

"If you don't want to battle him, I will!" Misty said to them, oblivious to what they were laughing about.

Ash blinked, confusion evident on his face, "What'ya you mean?" He asked

Misty closed her eyes and smiled arrogantly, "I'm a Cerulean city Trainer, but I'm also the fourth Sensational Sister!" She pointed out as if Ash was supposed to care. Said Trainer was now staring at her with a deadpan look while Misty pointedly ignored Lily stating there was only three Sensational Sisters and one runt.

Daisy turned to her, "Well little sister, it's a surprise to see you back so soon."

"I'm only back because of him!" Misty shouted indignantly while pointing at Ash, who now had a tick mark developing on his eyebrow.

Daisy turned to Ash and gave him a brief once over, "Well, I can certainly see why, at least your tastes have improved. He does has that whole... 'rebel' look going for him, and he's very cute. In a couple years he'll be like extra dishy." Looking him in the eyes she continued, "In fact, when you're a little more mature you should come see us maybe we can have some fun." She trailed off in a purr.

Ash had only the slightest clue why, but nonetheless made a mental note to come visit Cerulean city in two or three years.

Misty growled at her sisters, "If I battle him it'll prove I'm a great Trainer and not interested in him!" She shouted.

"Well, you're the only one with Pokemon who can battle at the moment, so have at it little sister." Daisy told her.

.oOo.

A few minutes later Ash stood on one side of the water arena battlefield with Misty taking up the other side.

Ash stared at her, unconcerned with battling her. He'd saw her battle back in Pewter city, and from what he saw she was no match for him. "Rules?" Ash asked.

"Two against two works for me, unless you're afraid to battle an obviously superior Trainer like me!" Misty gloated arrogantly.

Ash just smiled at her before replying, "We'll see..."

Reaching to his belt Ash grabbed one he'd specifically transferred over for this battle, "Show them you're power, Psyduck." Ash ordered as he threw it into the air. In a beam red energy Psyduck appeared on one of the platforms, surprising Misty because it looked serious, opposed to the other one's she'd seen that all looked as if they were doped up.

Misty, her arrogant grin still in place, threw her Pokeball into the air, and just like Ash predicted, Staryu beamed onto the opposite platform, "Staryu, let's show this wannabe some real skill!"

Ash grinned inwardly. He'd already seen this Staryu's attacks and knew what attack she'd start off with, and with the power Psyduck's Psychic attack's and how weak that Staryu was, Ash was sure this would be over in one move.

Predictably Misty ordered, "Staryu, take it out with Tackle attack!"

Ash smirked and watched as Staryu spun on it's side before zooming across the water at Psyduck, who stood there completely calm awaiting Ash's order. When Staryu was just a few feet from Psyduck, Ash acted, "Stop it in place with confusion!"

Psyduck heeded Ash's words and it's eyes glowed blue, just as Staryu was about to hit Psyduck a blue outline appeared around it and it was stopped instantly, floating in front of the Headache Pokemon. Ash, seeing no point in postponing, quickly ordered, "Send it back into the wall behind it's Trainer as hard as you can."

Psyduck nodded and with a cry of, "Duck!" Sent Staryu flying across the gym so fast it left an after shock behind it in the water before it crashed into the wall and dropped to the gym floor, completely out of it.

Ash nodded, satisfied. With Pokeball in hand he returned Psyduck before looking at the Pokeball, "Very well done." With that he switched the Pokeball with another from his belt, ready for the second round and looked up to see Misty still staring at Staryu in shock, "Hey! Hurry up I don't have all day!" Ash shouted, breaking her out of her stupor.

Misty returned Staryu before speaking up, "Lucky shot, you wont get another." Picking her second choice she beamed the evolved form of Staryu, a Starmie out into the platform.

Ash grinned, "Perfect, this should do it. My buddy here just needs a little push and I think this will be the perfect opportunity." Ash told her before holding the Pokeball up and beaming his own Pokemon onto his own platform, "Charmander, give it your all." He ordered.

Charmander appeared on the platform completely ignoring Starmie as if it wasn't worth his time.

Misty completely ignored Charmander's rare colouring and promptly began laughing mockingly. "Hahaha! You plan to use a Charmander in a water Gym? See, I told you you were an idiot and had no talent."

Ash said nothing, he was beginning to get annoyed so he decided to start things off, "Charmander you know what to do to power up."

Charmander nodded to Ash, still completely ignoring the water Pokemon and it's Trainer. Charmander aimed it's head upwards and used Flame Burst and shot a huge bullet of fire from it's mouth straight into the air before opening it's mouth and swallowing the attack as it came down, Ash grinned as a bright red aura appeared around Charmander.

Misty screamed in shock, "What the hell did you do?"

Ash grinned at her, "It's Charmander's ability Blaze, when activated it has the possibility to power up Charmander's fire attack's by a factor of five." He met Misty's eyes and continued, "We came up with a few combo's using this, but only one will be needed to end this battle. Charmander, Scary Face to lock it in place and finish it with Overheat!"

The golden Charmander gave Starmie a heart-stopping glare, scaring the starfish Pokemon stone still before opening it's mouth and launching a corona of white hot fire straight towards Starmie. The purple star shaped Pokemon was paralyzed, and unable to move, so the attack smashed straight into it.

When the flames dissipated Ash was surprised to see Starmie struggle back up to it's feet. Deciding to end it here so the poor Pokemon didn't take too much damage thanks to it's incompetent Trainer he looked towards Charmander and ordered, "Quick Attack over the water and end this with Dragon Rush."

Charmander, who'd worked tirelessly to increase his speed since day one, had no problem speeding across the water, dodging and weaving between Water Gun's from Starmie ordered by an increasingly frantic Misty. Twenty feet from Starmie Charmander used his speed to jump high into the air, his tail glowing a dark blue and flipped over one last Water Gun before smashing the powerful Dragon Rush straight into Starmie and launching it across the Gym, right into the same spot Staryu hit.

It was unconscious before it even hit the wall.

Ash was about to return Charmander to his Pokeball when he glowed a bright light. Ash smiled widely when Charmander grew in size and a horn grew at the top of it's head. When the light died down a golden Charmeleon was in Charmander's place, "Congratulations." Ash said as he aimed the Pokeball at Charmeleon, said Pokemon nodded before it dematerialized into red energy and returned to the Pokeball.

Ash looked at Misty in disdain, "That was pathetic, you should really train you're Pokemon more before acting so arrogant, it'll only get them injured." He told her before he turned and walked over to the Sensational Sisters, who where watching him mouth's agape.

When he reached them, Lily was the first to break out of her stupor before handing him the Badge, "Here you go, that was really impressive." Ash smiled and thanked her as he took to Badge. He was about to bid them goodbye when Lily leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "A little something for good luck. Come back and visit if you're ever passing through cutie." She whispered in his ear.

Ash turned red and stuttered a hasty goodbye before turning and speedily leaving the Gym.

Despite his blush, Ash couldn't wipe the silly grin from his face. He silently promised himself that he'd definitely come back and visit.

.oOo.

Two days after winning his second badge, Ash silently watched an exchange between a group of boys, he'd been traveling through an area full of mist when he came upon a boy running on a treadmill. He was surrounded by another group of boys who seemed to be asking him questions.

"What is the name of Pidgey's advanced stage?" The red haired member of the group asked.

A puzzled frown came upon the boy running on the treadmill's face. He continued trying to keep up with the treadmill while thinking, but it seemed he wasn't to good at multi-tasking as he tripped over his own feet and tumbled from the treadmill in a heap at the group of boy's feet.

"I'm sorry, I forgot." The boy muttered timidly.

The group of boys surrounding him sighed in disappointment as the red haired one, the leader of the group Ash assumed, stepped forward. "You forgot? And you call yourself a Pokemon Tech student? Well we don't want to study with the likes of you." He pointed out seriously.

Ash who was by this time leaning against the tree with his arms crossed spoke up startling them, "You know, I'm not exactly sure what's going on, but from my point of view it looks like you're bullying that kid."

The green haired kid spoke up after a few seconds, "There's nothing going on here, mind you're own business. There's no room in our school for losers who don't even know Pidgey's evolved stage, we have to maintain standards."

Ash was nonplussed with his answer and shot back, "Well if your school is turning out guys like you it must to have pretty low standards."

"That's you're opinion, you should keep it to yourself." The one with long black hair told him, before they all turned and headed away through the mist.

When they had walked into the distance Ash turned back to the boy he helped, "Bleh, PokeTech Academy, I remember when Professor Oak asked me and Gary if we wanted to go." Ash muttered to himself.

The boy turned to Ash as he stood up, "Thank you. My name is Joe by the way." Me told Ash

Ash was just about to respond when the fog cleared away and a huge luxurious school came into view, while a voice rang out, "Today's special class, fog battle technique's is now over, tomorrow will be snow competition secrets."

Ash pointedly ignored the kid's whining, if the kid didn't like it he should do something about it, but he did ask, "Mind giving me a tour? I could have come here a few years back but decided I wanted to travel as a Trainer instead, I'd like to see what's so great about it."

Joe gave Ash a small smile before replying, "Sure."

.oOo.

"At Pokemon Tech, everything is graded by you're skill as a Trainer." Joe lectured before continuing, "Even though I'm at the bottom of my class, I'm still more powerful than a Trainer with just two badges."

That seemed to finally annoy Ash, "So you're saying because I've only got two badges so far you're Pokemon are more powerful than mine?"

Joe had his eyes closed as he answered, "Of course."

Ash grit his teeth and pulled a Pokeball from his belt, "Battle, now!" He all but snarled.

Joe smiled confidently, "You'll be sorry." He told Ash as he led him over to an open area in the room with a huge mat covering the floor.

Joe pulled a Pokeball out and threw it into the air, "Weepinbell let's go!" He shouted as the grass type beamed onto the mat.

Ash couldn't stop himself from sneering, he could tell just by looking at it that the Weepinbell was barely out of it's Bellsprout form. Throwing his own Pokeball into the air he ordered, "Squirtle, teach him a lesson." The Squirtle squad leader Ash caught just over a week ago appeared on the mat, arms crossed, with his black shades firmly in place as he looked at Weepinbell impassively.

Ash decided to start things off, "Squirtle, Water Gun!" Squirtle smirked before his cheeks puffed out and he opened his mouth before letting loose a a jet of water that crashed straight into Weepinbell and sent the plant Pokemon soaring.

Ash actually sweat dropped now; he new he was going to win, and easily at that, but he didn't expect the Weepinbell to be so weak that it could be taken out in one attack, a water attack at that.

"But Weepinbell's strong against Water Pokemon." Joe protested in shock.

"True." A melodious voice spoke up from behind him, "But your opponent has been traveling and training his Pokemon, it has far more battle experience than you're Pokemon. You should have known that. You're an embarrassment to the whole school." Looking up Ash had to actively fight off his blush, as he saw one of the most beautiful girls he'd ever seen with the gang of boys from earlier behind her.

"Giselle." Joe muttered, still slightly shocked.

"I'm the top student at the beginning class at the most prestigious Pokemon school in the world, people call me a star, but I'm just Giselle." She preached arrogantly.

Even though she was extremely pretty, Ash began to frown at her bitchy attitude. Between her and Misty he was starting to lose his respect for female Trainers, a feeling he didn't enjoy.

She walked up to Joe, "I want to help my classmates be the very best they can be, to teach each other, respect each other and insure the Pokemon of tomorrow, but you're a weakling!" She sneered at him.

Joe looked like he was about to cry.

"You'd better get stronger fast, or before you know it your fellow student's will turn their backs on you for good!" She continued where she left off, before turning and walking away.

Ash snorted, "So much for friends... With friends like you guys who needs enemies?"

Giselle stopped and gave out a small laugh, before reaching over to a trolley full of Pokeballs and grabbing one, "Against you're water Pokemon I'll choose Graveller." In a flash of light, the four armed boulder Pokemon appeared on the opposite side of Squirtle, who wasn't even paying attention.

"My Pokemon are at such an advanced level, they can beat water Pokemon." Giselle told him, before Graveller jumped straight into the air, intent on crushing Squirtle.

Ash couldn't help his snort. Yes, maybe her Graveller could beat weak water Pokemon like Misty's, but against one as strong as his Squirtle? No contest. "Squirtle, their arrogance is annoying me, end it in one shot with Hydro Pump." Squirtle looked up at the rapidly descending Graveller before opening it's mouth for the second time today and launching a power torrent of water straight into the middle of it's face. Graveller was launched straight back across the room, landing right beside the still out of it Weepinbell. It was unconscious before it even reached ground level though, the high pressure water jet knocking it for a loop.

Ash gave them an easy smile as she returned Squirtle, "I may only have two badges, but I spent most of my time catching and training my Pokemon, they're on a whole other level from you're Pokemon. Maybe we'll battle again some day when you actually travel and train like a proper Trainer. For now I'm just glad I refused to come to this shit hole." Ash told them as he turned and began walking away.

The group of boy's and Joe were shocked speechless, unable to even comprehend Giselle being so completely and utterly outclassed.

If they were actually looking at Giselle, they would have saw her gazing at Ash's retreating back with Wide, starry eyes. _'So...So...Cool...So dreamy!"_ She squealed internally with a light blush across her face.

.oOo.


	9. Unova Remastered 1

**I remember this story quite easily as well. Something I wrote while riding the hype Sinnoh With Skill got early on.**

 **Unova Remastered - Chapter 1**

* * *

"Ready, Pikachu?" Ash asked the small yellow rodent Pokemon on his shoulder.

"Pi pi, Pikachu? ( _Of course, when am I ever not ready to set off_?)" Pikachu replied as he made himself comfortable on his trainers shoulders.

Ash gave a small chuckle in reply, "When you're too busy gorging yourself on ketchup." The amber eyed teen supplied as they left the Nacrene City Pokemon Center and began walking down the busy street.

"Pi! ( _hmph!_ )" Pikachu mock sniffed in distaste at Ash, before relaxing as a question popped into the small electric rodent's mind, "Pi pi Pika Pika-pi? ( _Where exactly are we headed anyway, didn't you promise to meet up with Cilan and Iris in Nimbasa City?_ )" Pikachu questioned his Trainer as he lazed on Ash's shoulder.

Ash licked his lips as he replied, "Well buddy, I was checking the fastest routes to Nimbasa on the Pokemon Center's computers when you were sleeping last night." The wild haired Trainer replied, stopping a moment before he continued, "The fastest way on foot was through Pinwheel forest, but I found a route just as fast without the risk of getting lost."

"Pi...? ( _Okay, what route then?_ )" Pikachu asked next.

Ash looked up at Pikachu over his shoulder as he answered, "We're gonna take a shortcut just to the side of Pinwheel forest where we can get a ferry to Virbank City." He replied, "Not to mention, I found out it has a Gym there that specializes in Poison type Pokemon." He continued with a grin at the thought of another Badge to add to his growing collection of Unova Gym badges.

Pikachu lazily opened one eye and grinned right back at him, "Pi pi, Pika Pi ( _That's great Ash, is there anything else you found out about the Gym? Poison Specialists are always a pain to fight so any advantage will help in the long run._ )" Pikachu inquired.

Ash grinned sheepishly as he reached up and rubbed one of Pikachu's long black tipped ears, "Only that the Gym Leader there, Roxie, is one of the most powerful Gym Leaders in the region, right up there with a guy called Brycen and another called Draydunn who's reputed for being a Dragon Master." The Trainer answered, his voice a bit quiter and subdued than it had been before.

Pikachu went still as he processed that information, "Pi. ( _Crap._ )" The small Electric Type deadpanned. "Pi Pkachu Pika chu chu pi ( _Need I remind you that because of whatever Zekrom did to me my Electric Type attacks aren't even a quarter as powerful they were when we battled Tobias in the Lily Of The Valley Conference back in Sinnoh? And you want to go up against a Gym Leader on the same level as a Dragon Master?_ )" The small electric type asked his Trainer, his voice seeping with disbelief.

Ash just grinned at him, "We beat Claire back during our journey through Johto didn't we?" He asked his partner Pokemon, "And she was a Dragon Master, was she not?"

Pikachu sighed and leaned his face on Ash's hat, "Pi Pi Pikachu ( _Yeah, but back then it took the combined efforts of me, Snorlax and freaking I-fight-Legendaries-for-sport Charizard and we still barely won, now you want to battle someone on that level with me, who's just barely able to fight at that level now because of Zekrom, Oshawott who's a bit of a coward and young as hell, the abandoned Tepig who's so afraid you'll abandon him like his previous trainer he fights for you until he can barely move anymore and Snivy who, despite pretty rather powerful for how young she is, is so weak in her defences that one strong fire type attack will bring her down?!_ )" Pikachu ranted to his best friend.

Ash just laughed in reply as Pikachu sighed, "Pi pi pi Pikachu chu pi ( _I suppose I could bite the bullet and let you evolve me into a Raichu with a Thunderstone, I'd get most if not all of my power back not to mention a huge boost in physical abilities and the ability to learn moves like Giga Impact and Hyper Beam._ )" The small electric type lamented. It wasn't like he was totally against becoming a Raichu anymore, he just liked himself the way he is, or was before Zekrom stole most of his power from him, for reasons as of yet unknown.

Ash gave Pikachu a fond smile, it was always nice to hear how much his partner would willingly give him for him, but he wasn't about force Pikachu to evolve until it was an absolute necessity, "Nah, don't worry about it buddy." Ash responded, "We'll just have to start training harder than ever and until then we can go back to having you use Thunder for more power, we may have stopped using it because of how powerful your Thunderbolt was, but thanks to Zekrom we need the extra fire-power." The trainer continued.

Pikachu sighed but nodded nonetheless, "Pi Pikachu ( _Okay, but remember me evolving to Raichu is always an option, after all you've been lugging that Thunderstone you got years back in Vermillion City after we lost to Lt. Surge and his Raichu around all this time._ )" Pikachu said to Ash.

Ash nodded, "Alright then, but until then how do you feel about learning a new move that I spent hours researching last night?" He asked his starter Pokemon.

Pikachu quirked an eyebrow at Ash, "Pi? ( _What kinda move?_ )" The small rodent inquired.

"I'm thinking, Signal beam." Ash answered simply.

Pikachu's other eyebrow joined the already raised one, "Pi Pikachu? ( _A bug type move? I didn't know we could learn any of those._ )" The mouse Pokemon said in return, "Pikachu pi? ( _That would work well with my move set though, Electric moves for any Water or Flying types, a steel type move for Ice and Rock types, and then Signal Beam - a Bug type move - for Grass, Dark and Psychic Pokemon._ )" Pikachu pointed out.

Ash nodded, "That was what I was thinking for the most part buddy." He said to Pikachu.

A thought suddenly crossed Pikachu's mind, "Pi pi? ( _Are there any other interesting moves a Pikachu can learn outside of Electric type attacks?_ )" The yellow mouse inquired.

Ash nodded in reply, "Oh yeah, there's a few. For instance there's a way to charge your body full of electrons and make yourself fly. You can also do something similar using that technique on a large body of water to perform the Surf attack and the Pokedex even said that Pikachu can learn how to use the Dig technique." Ash told his Pokemon who near enough went starry eyed at the mention of using Surf.

Pikachu was near day dreaming as he thought of using Surf to mow down all those Ground type Pokemon that caused him trouble over the years.

 _*Pikachu's Daydream:*_

" _Mwuahahahaha, bow before me weaklings!"A giant version of Pikachu roared with a delighted laugh as he rode a massive tidal wave of water._

" _Aaaaaaaah!" Several Rock and Ground type Pokemon such as Rhydon, Onix and Sandlash huddled together and cried in fear and despair as the massive tidal wave crashed down upon them and swept them away never to be seen again._

 _*Pikachu's Daydream: End*_

"But the move I saw that was suited to you the most..." Ash continued with an amused chuckle, "Had to be Petal Dance." The amber eyed teen finished.

And just like that Pikachu's daydream came crashing down around him as he faceplanted right into the back of Ash's head who just laughed. Righteously, at least in Pikachu's mind, the small electric rodent pumped a fist into the air as he declared mightily, "PIKA! ( _NEVER!_ )" There was _no way in hell_ a manly Pikachu like him was ever going to use such a sissy move, despite how powerful it was. That move was for girls and girls only in his mind and he was way too manly for his sexuality to be questioned. After all, how many female Pokemon were vying for his attention? May's Glaceon, Gary's female Umbreon, Anabel's Espeon and Dawn's Buneary just to name a few of the the fine ladies that had been ensnared by his manly Pikachuness!

Ash couldn't help it, he burst out into a full bellied laugh as he made his way towards Pinwheel Forest. He ignored the stares from the public around him; he knew he made quite a sight, his clothes didn't really garner much attention being that he wore one of his normal red and white Pokeball hats, a blue and white short sleeved zipper, black cargo jeans and red and black high-top sneakers. It was Pikachu who he was conversing with that garnered the attention of the Unova region natives, being that very few of them had ever seen a Kanto native Pokemon in real leaf, and he was just walking down the street with a Pikachu riding on his shoulder conversing with the small electric type like it was just any other Pokemon, which to him it was, he supposed.

Just over an hour later, Ash smiled he was turned around another large tree.

' _From what I remember, the port for the ferry to Virbank should be about another ten minute walk from here._ ' Ash thought to himself. He was enjoying the walk through the outsides of Pinwheel Forest so far, they had seen quite a few Unova native Pokemon that he hadn't seen up until now, Sewaddle and Venipede to name a few.

Turning around another tree, Ash grinned when he caught sight of a straight path through the forest, and in the distance a large boat towering over the tree's. "Almost there Pikachu, when we get on the ship I'll feed you guys, okay?" Ash said to the Pokemon on his shoulder.

Pikachu nodded with a smile, "Pi. ( _Right._ )" The Electric Type responded.

"Kroko!" A deep guttural voice cried out in front of them, the voice sounding almost excited.

Looking up, Ash and Pikachu blinked owlishly as they caught sight of a Krokorok in a very familiar pair of sunglasses, "You again?" Ash questioned in a deadpan, receiving a nod from the dual Ground and Dark type, "Lemme guess, you're here to battle Pikachu again?" The Trainer asked with a sigh.

Krokorok was a primarily tan-colored, bipedal crocodilian Pokémon, having a long snout as typical of crocodilians, and a thick black stripe on the bridge. Krokorok's eyes were round and sepia-colored, with a circular pattern of black around them stretching between each eye, giving the impression of an archetypal robber's mask or a pair of glasses, with the ridges surrounding the eyes being large and protruding. Many thick black stripes were present down Krokorok's back, stretching to its pink-colored underside and encompassing its tan-colored limbs; Its tail had black spikes and black stripes running down it. But what made this Krokorok different from normal was the pair of small red rimmed dark sunglasses covering it's eyes.

"Krokorok!" Krokorok declared as it raised a fist into the air.

Ash grinned in reply "Alright then, we're always up for a battle! Right buddy?" He asked Pikachu.

"Pi Pikachu! ( _Damn right!_ )" Pikachu crowed as he leaped down to the forest floor.

"You ready Krokorok?" Ash asked, getting a confident nod in reply from the crocodile like Pokemon. "Right, Pikachu start things off with Quick Attack!" He commanded.

Pikachu blurred forward, a blinding silvery white trail of energy exploding from behind the small Pokemon as he raced towards Krokorok, closing the distance between them faster than the blink of an eye and smacking Krokorok in chest, hard.

"Kroko!" Krokork cried out in pain as it was sent flying, crashing with it's back harshly against a tree, but it shook it's head and leapt to it's feet ready for more.

Ash smirked to himself. Zekrom may have stolen the majority of Pikachu's power, but he still had his blinding speed, and extremely strong – for a Pikachu – physical capabilities, having in the past been able to toss a Milotic and other large Pokemon.

Krokorok made the next move, Krokorok's body became surrounded in white. The white energy then receeded from Krokorok's body and formed into two rings of white pointed energy orbs that orbited around its body. The white light then faded a moment later to reveal multiple small sharp pointed gray rocks.

"Kroko!" Krokorok roared as it pumped a fist forward, sending the rocks flying towards Pikachu at a blinding fast speed.

Ash's smirk grew a bit. Krokorok's attacks were powerful and fast, but when it came to Pikachu he wasn't fast enough.

"Pikachu, get in close with Quick Attack by using the rocks as stepping stones!" Ash ordered quickly.

Pikachu obeyed and exploded forward, silvery white energy trailing from behind him as the small electric type mouse blurred into a jump, landing on one of the soaring rocks, and then propelling himself forward blindingly fast from rock to rock as he made way towards Krokorok within a couple of seconds.

"Now!" Ash shouted out as he stepped to the side and let the many powerful rocks of Krokorok's Stone Edge fly past him and pulverize a couple of tree's, reducing them to sawdust, "Iron Tail!" Ash commanded.

Krokorok finally realized Ash and pikachu's plan, but also noted with how fast Pikachu was going, there wasn't much of anything it could do to counter, and so did the only thing that it could, threw it's arms up to protect it's face and prepared for impact.

And not a moment to soon, as Pikachu appeared in a blur of silvery speed swinging a glowing silver tail right into the side of Krokorok's face.

"KROK!" Krokorok cried out as it was sent sailing, crashing straight through a thick tree rather easily from the force behind Pikachu's Iron Tail attack, and crashing into another thicker three behind it, splintering it almost into sawdust although the tree managed to remain standing and in one piece for the most part as Krokorok slid to the grassy forest floor and lay there still.

"Way to go Pikachu!" Ash cheered as Pikachu bounded up to him and landed on his shoulder with a delighted cry of 'Pika Pi!'.

Ash petted Pikachu once with a smile before he turned his attention to the injured Krokorok who was slowly and shakily standing up using the tree for support, "You okay Krokorok?" Ash asked, his voice soft and concerned.

"Krokorok." Krokorok replied sadly as it hung it's head in defeat and began to slowly walk away, head and arms dropped low.

Ash watched the Pokemon walk away for a few seconds before a smile filtered onto hi face," Hey Krokorok?" Ash called out to the dual Ground and Dark type causing it to turn slowly and face him it's sunglasses slanted slightly to the side, "Come on, what are you gonna do now?" Ash asked when he had it's attention.

Krokorok's head dropped even lower as it answered with a shrug of it's shoulders and began turning to walk away again, "Hey!" Ash called again as he lifted a hand to show a Pokeball in it, "How about you come with us?" The young teen asked.

"Kroko?" Krokorok jolted up, rather startled by the sudden question.

"C'mon, we'll have a great time." Ash persuaded with a grin.

Krokorok seemed to think it over for a moment before it stood up again, head tall and a large grin on it's face as it nodded in agreement, "Kroko!" The crocodilian Pokemon crowed.

"Awesome!" Ash replied with a bigger grin and cocking his hand back, "Alright, Pokeball, go!" He shouted as he tossed the red and white sphere at Krokorok, smacking it straight in the head before opening and sucking Krokorok inside in a beam of red energy.

The Pokeball fell to the grass and rolled slightly from side to side as it glowed a deep red, one shake, two shake and on the third shake the Pokeball rolled to a still and gave of a small 'Ping' noise as Krokorok was captured.

"Sweet." Ash said as he looked to Pikachu on his shoulder, "Krokorok is bound to help out a lot against a Poison type Gym." The amber eyed teen continued, getting a nod of agreement from his Pokemon.

Grinning again, Ash walked over and picked up his newest Pokemon's Pokeball before clipping it to his belt beside the others.

"Alright, now on to Virbank City." Ash said to Pikachu with a smile as he began walking to the straight forest path again.

Night had fallen, and Ash leaned over the railing of the Ferry with a contemplative look on his face as he watched the moonlight in the water.

After feeding his Pokemon, he left them in his cabin, mostly to relax and get to know Krokorok better. His mind was on his upcoming Gym Battle.

Krokorok had a pretty good move-set with Stone Edge, Crunch, Dig and Brick Break, a well balanced attack set, even if there wasn't any long ranged attacks at all besides Stone Edge, but he was sure he could work with that, he had done amazing things with less before after all.

He was sure Pikachu could at least pull off one win, he may not have the fire power he used to, but with his speed he could run rings around even some of the fastest Pokemon and despite his small stature Pikachu could take a real beating and keep coming back for more, not to mention there was always Thunder. Pikachu had stopped using the attack because his Thunderbolt had reached a level where even some of the most powerful electric types couldn't reach with their own Thunder, and Thunderbolt was much quicker and less energy taxing to use, but now that Zekrom had stolen most of Pikachu's power they would again have to utilize the move until Pikachu could build his power back up to the level he had it at before, a level where he could go head to head with Legendaries like Regice and Latios and come out on top.

Even a low level Pokemon could defeat a high level Pokemon if the Trainer was good enough, and with Krokorok's power Ash was sure that with his abilities they could pull of a win together.

It was his other three Pokemon he was worried about. All of them were rather young, even Snivy who was the oldest and most powerful of them. But then Snivy had quite a disadvantage against Poison types, not to mention some on the level of what this Gym Leaders were so she was out. Oshawott, despite having finally been able to open his eyes and master Aqua Jet during their two week training at Don George's Battle Club, was still relatively new to battling and still flinched back in fear from stronger, bigger and more experienced Pokemon, so he was also out. And finally there was Tepig, who had no battle training at all until he started training it. Granted the small fire-pig had quite a bit of power, a bit more than Snivy in fact, it's move-set just just didn't compare to the others though.

Snivy had great moves, Leaf Storm, Leaf Blade, Vine Whip and Attract, and so did Oshawottt with Aqua Jet, Water Gun and Razor Shell. Tepig though had very few pitiable moves, Tackle, Ember and Flame Charge, the only good move out of Tepig's whole set was Flame Charge, but because of Tepig's small size and low amount of weight, the attack was nowhere near as effective it would be when Tepig evolved to a Pignite and gained body mass.

Despite how much stronger his three youngest Pokemon had gotten at the Battle Club in the past two weeks, they just were not ready and able to fight on the level of someone like this Roxie was, who was said to be on the same level as Drayden the Dragon Master, who was near equal in strength with Dragon Master Claire, who trained with Lance herself and could give the Elite Four a run for their money.

Ash sighed, it was so hard to get used to using low level Pokemon again especially after using Pokemon like Torterra, Sceptile and Infernape.

"Wait a second." The amber eyed Kanto native said to himself with a sudden blink, "There's nothing stopping me from getting one of my more experienced Pokemon from Professor Oak, I've already got 4 new Pokemon and I'm happy with them." He continued.

"Hmmmm..." Ash mused as he leaned his chin on his hand that was resting on the railing of the ferry.

He had so many Pokemon it was hard to choose, although he didn't really want to bring Charizard all the way from the Charizific valley just for some Gym battles. Charizard was his strongest Pokemon and only ever wanted to battle extremely powerful Pokemon to help him achieve his dream of becoming the most powerful Charizard in the world. Ash grinned at the thought, how many Charizards had defeated a Legendary like his had?

No, Ash decided, he wanted one of his older Pokemon, strong and more experienced than the young ones he had with him just now, but one that still needed to train themselves to reach the level his Pokemon like Sceptile and Infernape were at.

It was so hard to choose he mused. Quilava maybe? But he already had a fire-type with him, the same would rule out Bayleef, Bulbasaur, Buizel and Totodile. Kingler maybe? Kingler was one of his strongest Pokemon when it came to physical attacks though. Noctowl could use some work he supposed, Corpish too for that matter, and a few others that came to mind as well.

Gible? Ash thought on that as he remembered the Sinnoh Champion Cynthia completely crushing his rival Paul's strongest Pokemon like they were bugs, a powerhouse like that would be really helpful in the long run Ash supposed, kind of like having another Charizard on the team except this one not a Fire type, and he had no Dragon's with him, not to mention he was sure Iris would love to meet his Gible, she went just gaga over Dragon Pokemon and he thought his Gible was pretty special, learning Draco Meteor when he was so young was, after all, quite the accomplishment.

Ash sighed and stood up as he felt rain drops hit his bare arms, "I'll decide tomorrow when I get to Virbank City, for now I'll just go get something to eat, spend time with my Pokemon and have a good nights rest." He said aloud to himself as he crossed his arms behind his head and began making his way back to the inside of the ferry and on the way to his cabin.


	10. Unova Remastered 2

**And Chapter 2 of Unova Remastered.**

* * *

It really was hard to decide in the end on what, Pokemon he should have Professor Oak send over from the Oak Ranch back in the Kanto Region Ash mused. Donphan's moves were powerful and fast, Heracross had varied moves that were all power based thanks to how powerful the dual Bug and Fighting type really was, Glalie was another great option what with his Ice type attacks and the amount of power the mischievous Pokemon had.

Sighing, Ash sat down on one of the couches in the waiting are of the Pokemon Center, gazing at the Pokeball clasped in his hand. Did he make the right choice? The question had been on his mind for the past few minutes, but despite it all he was sure he made the right decision.

After all, he hardly had any time with Gible considering he caught the small Dragon and Ground type near the very end of his journey through Sinnoh.

"I had a lot of great Pokemon to choose from, but besides my Sinnoh Pokemon I've spent very little time with Gible compared to my other Pokemon." Ash said to himself, "So, I'm positive I made the right decision and with a little training Gible will become a real powerhouse." The Trainer continued as he leaned his head back over the couch and stared up at the green ceiling of the inside of the Pokemon Center.

" _Excuse me Ash, your Pokemon have all made a full recovery._ " Nurse joy's voice rang out over the intercom system.

Ash smiled and stood up, clasping Gible's Pokeball to his belt as he did so, "Awesome." He said aloud as he looked to the clock hanging on the wall of the opposite side of the room, reading _14:08_ , "And with enough daylight left to challenge the Virbank City Gym." Ash mused happily.

Sticking his black and red trim fingerless glove covered hands in his cargo jean's pockets, Ash made his way from the room towards the room with the front desk.

When he got there, he caught sight of an Audino pushing a trolley that had a multitude of slots, four of them filled with the Pokeballs of his Pokemon, and Pikachu sitting on the edge of it as the small Electric mouse waited for Ash to come pick him and the others up.

There were various Trainers waiting in the room to be called, and the Nurse Joy who ran the Pokemon Center was situated behind a desk to his side.

Audino was a bipedal, blue-eyed, pink-and-cream-colored Pokémon. The upper section of its face was pink, as were its floppy ears, exempting the tips and curled lower extensions which were a cream color. The sides of Audino's chest and arms were also pink, somewhat resembling a jacket, although the tips of its forelimbs were cream. Its small tail was lumpy and white, similar to soft serve ice cream.

"Thanks Audino, Nurse Joy." Ash said in gratitude to the Pokemon and the pink haired nurse behind the counter to his right. Ash couldn't help but think Brock would love Unova, what with all the Nurse Joy's and Officer Jenny's being a slightly different than the ones from the other regions.

"It was our pleasure, Ash." Nurse Joy responded softly with a small smile.

"Pika! ( _Finally!_ )" Pikachu cheered as he launched himself straight off the trolley and into his favourite resting spot on Ash's shoulder as Trainer retrieved his Pokeballs and began re-clipping them to his belt.

"Good luck in your Gym battle tod-" Nurse Joy began but was interrupted as the revolving doors leading to outside the Pokemon Center slid open and a brown haired teen wearing tan covered slacks, an orange undershirt and green vest ran in to the Pokemon Center with a worried expression on his face, and in his arms, whimpering in pain with a purple tinge to his face was a Darumaka.

Darumaka was a small red, circular Pokémon. Above its eyes were yellow curly eyebrows and its face was orange. Three yellow ovals were positioned on its abdomen and a curvy yellow line was on its back. Its paws were an orange colour and possessed three digits each.

Seeing the state of the Pokemon, Audino hurriedly pulled over a stretcher as Nurse Joy rushed around to inspect the Pokemon.

"What happened?" Nurse Joy asked as the boy laid the small Fire-type down on the stretcher.

"I challenged the Virbank City Gym Leader to a battle, but she took down Darumaka within seconds with a combination of Toxic and Gyro Ball." The brown haired teen in a dejected tone as Nurse Joy examined his Pokemon.

Ash perked up at the mention of the Gym, he could use the information supplied by this teenager to help him prepare.

"Prepare the antidote, Audino." Nurse joy ordered. Audino complied and began pushing the stretcher away, taking the Pokemon away to heal it from the poison, the pink haired nurse following right behind Audino as it went.

"Nurse Joy!" The brown haired boy shouted to her, causing her to turn to him and notice his pale and worried face, "Will my Darumaka be alright?" He asked worriedly, tears budding at the corner of his eyes.

Nurse Joy gave him a confident smile, "Don't worry, at this Pokemon Center we're used to dealing with poison all the time." She answered, "We'll call you as soon as we're finished." The kindly nurse continued before moving on to follow Audino through the doors to where she would presumably heal the Pokemon.

"Okay." The brown haired teen replied, giving a sigh of relief and looking visibly relieved.

Deciding now was as good a time as any, Ash made his way over the the other teen. "You just had a Gym Battle?" Ash stated, more than asked.

The boy turned to Ash and nodded his head in the positive, "Yeah, the Virbank Gym is really tough." He replied, "Are you here for a Gym Battle too?" He inquired.

Ash gave a grin as he answered, "Yeah, I'm just about to head over to the Gym in a few minutes for my Gym Battle."

"Then you better be ready for a lot of Poison, because I've never seen anybody so good with Poison type moves." The brown haired teen replied, "And her Pokemon are really high level, we couldn't do anything; first she poisoned us and then she defeated us easily as if we weren't even a challenge at all." He continued gravely.

They were interrupted this time by the arrival of a few more Trainers gathering around them, with serious but grave looks on their faces.

"The same thing happened to me." One of the girls stated, her brown hair done up in two pigtails and wearing a pink dress.

A teen around the same height as Ash with short blue hair wearing a white shirt with jeans cut in next, "The same thing happened to us to." He told them.

"Me too!" Another girl chimed in, this one with long dark blue hair wearing a cyan dress with a ribbon in the middle. "That Gym is way too difficult..." She continued dejectedly.

Finally, at the back a boy with short spiky black hair, wearing a red shirt and black jeans commented, "I can't believe with just one of her Pokemon, she defeated all 6 of mine." He told them sombrely.

Ash's eyes widened at that tidbit of information, Pikachu's alongside him. Defeating a Trainer's roster with just one was no easy feat, in fact Ash himself had only ever done it a few times over the course of all of his journeys, it was a very rare feat indeed accomplished by only the strongest of Trainers... or those lucky enough to face someone who specialized to the point of insanity with a Pokemon their entire team was weak to, but that went without saying.

Well, that or a weakling trainer.

To date only three of his Pokemon had managed it before, Pikachu, Charizard and Sceptile.

Well, for any battle worth mentioning.

Ash grew pensive after a moment, nodding his thanks to the other Trainers, "Thanks for the information, I'll be sure to use it to my advantage." He told them as he turned on his foot and left the Pokemon Center, walking down the street towards where the map had said the Gym was.

Both he and Pikachu were quiet as the Trainer of the two tried to come up with a winning strategy, but he just couldn't think of anything until he saw this Gym Leader's Pokemon battle in person.

"I should have asked those Trainers for directions rather than information on the Gym Leader." Ash deadpanned as he leaned his head against the entrance to the Gym.

It had take him over half an hour to find the Gym. He'd walked through the alley a couple of times expecting to find some kind of grand building like what most of the other Gym's he'd challenged looked like; how was he supposed to know that the entrance to the Gym was a ratty door that led underground?! Finally, after over a half an hour of searching he noticed the Gym sign on the door. The sign itself was just as ratty and worn as the door itself, to make the situation even more annoying.

Sighing one last time, Ash straightened himself up and gave his head a few shakes, slapping his cheeks lightly for good measure.

After a few moments Ash grinned, head in the game and ready to battle. "Alright, let's go." He declared to nobody in particular as he opened the door and entered.

Ash wrinkle his nose in distaste as he looked at the corridor leading underground, the entirety of the walls were covered in ratty posters and the like, reminding Ash much of the many buildings he'd seen that frequently held rave parties and small time rock concerts.

Honestly, they could at least keep the outsides of the Gym in better condition, as it was it was almost impossible to tell this dump led to the Gym.

Walking down the stairs, Ash caught sight of another door and quickly opened it, preparing to declare his challenge.

He was therefore surprised when as the door opened, Pikachu covered his ears with his paws and cried out in slight pain as an incredibly loud and grating tune of music played and a crowd roared in the background.

In the middle of the room was a large Pokemon battlefield, huge crowds standing off to the side off both sides, roaring and cheering as a band played. The band consisted of three members, a bald man in red pants and a leather jacket playing the drums, an older rather good looking goth-like woman wearing a black tank top that showed off some cleavage and a small red mini-skirt who was playing the bass guitar. The final member of the band was a girl around his age with short spiky white hair tied up in a straight up pony-tail, she was wearing a long blue and purple striped jumper, black shorts and black boots and was also playing an electric guitar.

Ash blinked stupidly, "This so isn't what I expected." He said aloud, his voice tinged with uncertainty.

"ALLLLL RIGHT! ROCK 'N ROLL!" The girl in the middle screamed loudly as she stopped playing her guitar and began winging her arm around rapidly to the tempo of the loud blaring rock music.

Making his way down the blue staircase in front of him, Ash locked eyes with the girl he assumed was the Gym Leader, what with how everything seemed to be centered on her, his amber eyes meeting her pale green ones.

She pointed at him with a grin, "Next challenger, that you?" She inquired brashly.

The crowd went silent, and the two older members of the band soon followed suit and stopped playing their instruments as Ash took his place on the empty side of the battlefield, "Yeah, the names Ash, from Pallet Town." He answered confidently, sharing a smirk with Pikachu on his shoulder.

Every eye on the room was on Ash, "How's it goin?" The girl questioned rather pleasantly, "I'm the Virbank City Gym Lader, Roxie!" The white haired girl declared.

Roxie took a closer look at Ash and finally noticed just what was on her shoulder, "Sweet, check out that Pikachu dude!" Roxie crowed, she grabbed a Pokeball from her shorts pocket and unleashed the Pokemon inside in a flash of blue light.

Ash was rather surprised that the Pokemon inside was a Koffing, what with how rare people said non-Unova native Pokemon were in the region, "This Koffing showed up during a concert we had in Kanto and we've been tight ever since." Roxie told him with a giddy smile, her eyes glinting with affection letting Ash know just how much she cared for her Pokemon.

Koffing was a round, limbless purple Pokemon filled to the brim with toxic gases. Several crater-like protrusions on this Pokémon's thin body gave it the resemblance of a meteorite or a naval mine. Koffing had a skull and crossbones below its blissful face.

Ash smirked; _finally_ , all those times he dealt with Team Rocket during his Kanto and Johto journeys was going to come in handy. He was an old hand now at dealing with Koffing and Weezing, although something just told him that hers was going to be much more powerful than James' ever was.

Pleasantries out of the way, Ash decided to get down to business, "What are your terms for our Gym Battle?" The Kanto native asked boldly, not at all bothered by all the people staring at him. If he hadn't competed in so many competitions that had massive crowds, he dare say he might've been nervous, but he'd long since learned to block out a crowd. They could be distracting if a Trainer let them get in their head, from cheering for them to make a Trainer more arrogant or making the Trainer nervous and indecisive when boo'ing them.

Both were bad frames of mind for a Trainer in battle.

Roxie whistled in appreciation, "Man, you've got a set on you." She complimented with a grin, "Alright then, welcome to the Virbank City Gym, which doubles as a place for me and my band Koffing And The Toxics to jam all the time, and all of our fans come out to cheer us on cuz they totally love great tunez and Pokemon battles." Roxie boasted, causing the crowd to roar in agreement as the two members of Roxie's band began playing another tempo of music.

Ash just grinned impishly at her, what could he say? He'd always been a headstrong kinda guy, more into making his moves on the fly than trying to strategize, he preferred to run with his instincts, and while he didn't always come out on top, they never steered him wrong. He had accomplished a lot in the past few years after all, and had a whole slew of amazing Pokemon thanks to said instincts.

"Okay then.." Roxie started as she took her place on the other side of the battlefield, "We'll go for a 3 on 3 Pokemon battle, that cool with you dude?" The white haired punk girl inquired.

Ash let his grin stretch, "Oh yeah, I'm totally up for this." He responded.

"Brill my man, I'll be starting with Koffing." Roxie proclaimed before looking to the side of the room, her eyes landing on a man with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a navy blue suit. The lights dimmed and a spot-light shone down upon Ash giving the crowd a clear view of him, Roxie began to play along with her two band-mates as she spoke loudly to the roaring with cheers crowd, "Your attention pu-leez, Virbank City Gym Battle time and challenging the house is Ash from Pallet Town!" The introduction she gave Ash, induced another loud roar of cheers from the crowd as they simultaneously began to chant ' _RO-XIE! RO-XIE! RO-XIE!'_ and ' _ASH! ASH! ASH!'_

"Alright ref, kick us off!" Roxie ordered to the visual pleasure of the crowd.

The man in the navy blue suit stepped up to the small box beside the battlefield, "You got it Roxie!" He responded with a grandiose wave of his arms which caused the lights of the Gym to light back up again, "Okay, here's the deal, both the Gym Leader and the Challenger will use 3 Pokemon and only the challenger will be allowed to substitute Pokemon." The ref continued.

"You rock hard ref!" Roxie declared as the large overhead screen above the battlefield flared to life, an icon of Ash and Roxie on the sides with six circular slots, three of them dull and grey and three of them lighted up a bright blue with Pokeball icons in the middle.

"Now opening up the show is Koffing! Bang! Zoom!" Roxie shouted. Koffing floated idly above Roxie before almost literally shooting forward in a blur of speed above the battlefield, shooting across to Ash's side of the field before spinning and zooming back to Roxie's side.

Ash whistled, he was impressed. "That is one damn fast Koffing." The teen complimented, but it still didn't compare to Pikachu's. Grabbing one of the Pokeballs from his belt Ash tossed it up and released the Pokemon inside, "Let's go Krokorok!"

Krokorok appeared in front of Ash on the battlefield with his arms crossed. "Krok." The dual Ground and Dark type Pokemon idly commented, although Ash didn't understand him - he only really understood Pikachu because of how long they'd been together - but he could tell most of the time what his Pokemon meant, although he hadn't reached that level yet with Krokorok considering he had only just caught the crocodilian Pokemon the night before.

Up above, the first lit up slots on the overhead screen faded away to be replaced with icons of both Koffing and Krokorok.

"Let's rock the house!" The referee declared with a swipe of his hand, causing the two band members behind Roxie to begin playing a fast, kinda action packed sounding tune, one Ash would expect to hear during a big battle in a thriller movie of some kind.

Ash figured that was the starting signal and took the first move quickly, he needed to test the waters first and see how well that Koffing was at dodging, "Alright Krokorok, Stone Edge!" He ordered sharply.

Krokorok obeyed instantly and within moments had conjured the attack and sent the multitude of sharp rocks flying speedily towards Koffing.

"Gyro Ball, let's go!" Roxie declared in reply.

"Koooooooooffing!" Koffing cried out loudly as it began to spin rapidly a blow glowing outline surrounding it as the floating Poison type began to repel the speeding rocks, when the blows stopped raining upon it, Koffing shot forward towards Krokorok faster than many could follow.

Ash wasn't one of them though, he was used to following high-speed combat in battles and had learned how to follow it after years of training many fast Pokemon like Pikachu, Sceptile and his speedy Flying types like Swellow.

"Dig!" Ash commanded quickly.

Krokorok dived straight towards the ground, burrowing down a deep hole right beneath the battlefield and narrowly avoiding the spinning Koffing who spun right back up into the air before stopping and surveying the battle field for any clues on where Krokorok would surface.

"Now, Brick Break!" Ash shouted out after a few moments.

Krokorok burst straight up and out of another hole, straight up into the air behind Koffing, swinging a glowing white arm down in a chopping motion just as Koffing turned in surprise to look at Krokorok, receiving the powerful blow straight to the face an sent careening through the air.

Koffing managed to right itself before it crashed into the ground, but Ash was already applying his next move.

"Stone Edge, let's go!" Ash declared, he had to keep up this momentum and not give Roxie and Koffing any time to counter attack and that meant bombarding Koffing with attack after attack before it could do anything edge wise.

Mid-air, Krokorok conjured the multitude of sharp rocks and sent them shooting down at Koffing, raining down blow after blow upon the Poison type before it could attempt to dodge after it's recovery.

"Koff!" the Poison Type Pokemon cried out in pain as it was bombarded with a great deal of the sharp projectiles and forced to crash harshly against the ground with a pained grunt.

"Now wrap this up Krokorok!" Ash shouted quickly, "Come down and use Brick Break!" He continued.

"Krok!" Krokorok grinned and flipped mid-air into a dive straight towards the downed Koffing, it's arm pulled back and glowing a bright silvery white. and ready to deliver the powerful attack.

"Clear Smog, now!" Roxie countered abruptly.

Koffing snapped to attention, and from it's position on the ground bloated slightly before opening it's mouth and unleashing a large stream of white smog that crashed straight into Krokork and used the descending Pokemon's momentum against it as the dual Dark/Ground type was sent soaring back up into the air and crashed harshly against the roof of the large room, and then promptly fell to the ground below with a loud thud, the roof and ground both being cratered slightly from the impacts Krokorok made when it hit.

"Way to Koffing my man, you... ROCK THE HOUSE!" Roxie cheered strumming her bass guitar loudly. Koffing floated back above Roxie and responded to her encouragement with a puff of gas and deep chuckle.

Ash licked his lips in deep thought, trying to analyse all that he'd saw so far, while Krokorok began to shakily pull itself up, its body covered in multiple dark purple bruises that looked quite painful, but after a moment Krokorok, like a true soldier, pushed himself up and took a battle stance, awaiting further commands from Ash.

From the recovery Koffing made, even after being hit with a Brick Break and Stone Edge, Ash deduced that Koffing was at a much higher level than Krokorok, which was especially apparent after seeing how much damage Krokorok took from one attack; it could barely stand.

' _But still.'_ Ash thought to himself with a grin on his face, ' _The level of a Pokemon doesn't decide the outcome of the battle, it only gives the advantage, a Trainer's true worth is shown when they can work together with any level of Pokemon and make them great._ '

Ash looked at Koffing, who had a few bruises of its own and a couple of scuff marks all over it, it had taken some damage at least, not as much as he'd hoped, but he could work with it.

"Krokorok..." Ash began slowly, it was hard to construct a plan when none of Krokorks attacks were very versatile at the moment, his move repertoire so far was just for straight forward battling, not for strategic wins and definitely not for an opponent like Koffing, but Ash had to try at least, "Double Brick Break!" The black haired Trainer commanded.

Krokorok obeyed and sprinted towards Koffing, both arms glowing a white silver with power. As Krokorok reached Koffing, he leaped up and began a deadly dance with the Poison Pokemon, flowing through punches, chops and anything else as the crocodilian Pokemon attempted to land a blow on Koffing, only for the purple Pokemon to continuously evade by spinning from side to side, below and above.

Finally, Krokorok overextended another attempt at Brick Break and Roxie took advantage of that as Koffing spun around, coming out facing Krokorok face to face.

"Sludge Bomb! Wooh yeah!" Roxie cheered her command, playing another quick solo on her bass guitar.

Koffing puffed it's cheeks before firing a large missile of brown sludge point blank in Krokorok's face, the attack exploding on impact and tossing Krokorok from his latest leap crashing and into the battlefield and crater it underneath his body.

Ash growled as Krokorok stood back up, albeit barely and even worse there was purple arcs of energy shocking Krokorok all over and a deep purple hue across his snout. Krokorok was poisoned.

Ash knew he had to end this now, Krokorok couldn't take another attack like that and get back up.

"Go! Full power, Stone Ed-" Ash shouted, but he was cut off by Roxie shouting her own.

"Finish it with Gyro Ball, man!" She crowed out in that hard to understand punk slang of hers.

Krokorok already knew what Ash wanted though and conjured the rocks of Stone edge within a second, but before he could launch it Koffing shot like a missile, spinning lightning fast, glowing with a blue outline and crashed straight into Krokork's face, sending the beaten Pokemon flying into the wall, one again cratering it from the impact, and causing Krokork's sharp rocks to fall to the ground.

A moment later, Krokorok followed, completely unconscious and unable to continue.

Ash sighed but gave a smile, "Well done Krokorok, take a good long rest buddy." He said as he returned his Pokemon to it's Pokeball in a beam of red energy, he may have lost but Ash was incredibly proud of how Krokorok performed in his first ever battle, especially with an opponent of this level.

"I knew he couldn't stand up to Roxie." The women in the mini-skirt commented as the crowd roared for Roxie.

"Those were some killer moves there Ash-man, but your not gonna even come close to winning if that's all ya got." Roxie told him with a toothy grin on her freckled face.

Ash smirked back in reply, "Don't sell me out just yet, I just caught Krokorok last night." He responded causing Roxie to whistle, deeply impressed, "But now I think I'll kick this up a notch!" He continued.

Ash pointed forward, "Let's go Pikachu!" He declared confidently.

Pikachu launched himself onto the battlefield sparking his cheeks at Koffing in challenge, "Pika! ' _I'll thrash this gas-bag!'_ His starter matched Ash's declaration with his very own.

Ash decided to forgo the pleasantries, he was here to win his third Gym badge not listen to a band, "Pikachu, Agility, roundabout style." He ordered.

"Say wha?" Roxie muttered to Ash's command, she of course knew what Agility was, but the hell was roundabout style?

She found out, as Pikachu literally disappeared from her vision for a second, appearing to the side of Koffing so fast it looked like it Teleported. Koffing turned to Pikachu, but the small yellow mouse once again disappeared in a blur of speed and appeared behind Koffing. Once again Koffing turned to face Ash's Pikachu but the small yellow mouse once again blurred to the side lightning fast.

Everytime Koffing tried to catch Pikachu in it's line of sight the Electric Pokemon would run around it so fast Koffing was spinning madly out of control in confusion trying to find the lightning fast rodent Pokemon.

"Now Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash shouted abruptly, a triumphant glint in his eyes that his plan worked.

Before Koffing knew what happened, Pikachu appeared in a blur of speed, spinning down from above and slammed a silvery glowing white tail into Koffing's cranium and sent the Poison type careening into the ground, splintering it beneath him with a loud cry of pain.

Pikachu didn't let up though and followed right after, landing on Koffing and pinning it to the ground.

"Thunder." Ash whispered, but even though it was quiet it carried all over the entire roaring crowd.

"Pika-CHU!" Pikachu roared as his body was engulfed in a massive pillar of lightning that scorched everything it touched, the battlefield, the air, the ceiling and unfortunately for Roxie, Koffing most of all.

Pikachu jumped back as the attack died down, a triumphant grin on the small Pokemon's face. Koffing was planted firmly in a crater, burnt black and completely unable to continue.

Roxie gaped, "Woah, that is some serious power man..." She breathed out, literally shocked out of her wits, she was completely outplayed there and Koffing never stood a chance.

As Roxie returned her Pokemon to it's Pokeball and switched it with another Pokeball in her black short pockets, Ash took a look at Pikachu. His partner Pokemon was panting mildly, Ash tsked, Pikachu had even less power than he thought and unleashing a full power thunder when his reserves and power were still recovering tired him out immensely. Ash growled quietly, at this rate Pikachu would fall unconscious after a few more Thunder attacks from exhaustion, not to mention the more tired Pikachu got the less able he was able to stand up to attacks, especially considering the Pikachu species were not known for the defensive prowess.

"Alright, I'll admit you got me by surprise there Ashy-man, but I think I'll follow your lead this time around and kick this up myself." Roxie spoke up, as she released her next Pokemon in a bright flash of white, "Let's rock and rule Scolipede!" The white haired girl cheered.

Scolipede was a huge centipede-like Pokémon, with bright magenta coloration interspersed with purple rings spaced evenly along its segmented upper body. Its horns, extended from its head in a similar way to antennae, which were long and slightly twisted. Purple banding decorated its horns, as well as its similarly-shaped dual tails. It had four pairs of purple-tipped forelegs with nasty looking stingers, Its legs further down its body were longer, with curved black patterns and black tipping on the extremities of the limb.

"Screech Scolipede!" Roxie commanded.

Scolipede waved its antennae repeatedly and shrieked loudly, causing orange shockwaves to ripple out from its antennae, and expanse over the entire battlefield.

Pikachu squealed in pain, the sound based attack rattling against his enhanced hearing.

"Now use Sludge Bomb!" Roxie followed, up biting her lips with all of her top teeth and thrumming her base guitar.

Scolipede stopped it's screech attack and fired a large ball of brown sludge raging towards Pikachu, who had his eyes closed and whimpering in pain from the last attack.

"Iron Tail!" Ash ordered sharply, he knew with complete confidence that no Screech could keep Pikachu at bay for long.

Pikachu's eyes snapped open, his ears were ringing but he would fight for Ash no matter what situation, proven by his body moving before he even started recovering, his glowing white tail swinging around to cleanly bisected the Sludge bomb, saving himself from the attack.

' _Gotta finish this fast, Pikachu can't keep up using attacks that are energy based because of how low his energy levels are, and that only leaves us with Agility, all the other attacks used Pikachu's energy in some form of another, and thanks to Zekrom, Pikachu's is almost always dwindling on empty because of the amount of power his attacks take._ ' That suggestion from Pikachu about evolving to a Raichu was literally becoming more and more appealing, but he wouldn't take away Pikachu's happiness with his form at the moment because of his selfish desires to win a Gym Battle, it would just take time, that's all, to get Pikachu back to tip-top shape, and he would take any amount of time to ensure Pikachu and his other Pokemons happiness.

But for now, they had a Gym Battle to win.

"Pikachu, Volt tackle towards Scolipede." Ash ordered quickly, a risky plan forming in his head, but it would work if Pikachu got close enough.

"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu chanted as he bounded towards Scolipede rapidly, his charging body enshrouded in an aura of golden electricity.

"No way man, time to put a stopper on your show!" Roxie fired at him, "Scolipede, Rock Tomb!" She screamed, thrumming her guitar... once again. She did that a lot, didn't she? Ash mused to himself silently.

Scolipede roared into the air, conjuring a large gray boulder with a transparent glow above its head, before jerking its head forward and sending the boulder flying at the rapidly closing Pikachu.

"Go straight through it!" Ash ordered, to the shock of almost everyone present, that plan sounded absurd.

But Pikachu didn't even hesitate to launch himself at the boulder, crashing into it as hard as he could, propelled by the power of Volt Tackle. He trusted Ash with his life and trusted his crazy ass ideas in battle because they usually always worked.

Both the boulder and Pikachu stayed in a deadlock for a moment, before with a cry of "PIKA!" Pikachu ploughed straight through the boulder, shattering it to dust, and got sent flying through the air towards Scolipede by his momentum; although the power of Volt Tackle had receded, with his dwindling reserves he couldn't keep up his strongest power based attack for long at all

"Scoli!" Scolipede cried out in panic as Pikachu closed in.

Ash smirked, "Now grab onto its head by the horns!" He roared out quickly.

Pikachu suddenly remembered the first time Ash had him do this crazy stunt, against Drake the Champion of the Orange League's Dragonite, in order to land a point blank Thunder for a come from the behind victory. Pikachu knew Ash well enough by now to know that it was his plan, and that it would be using the last of the small Electric types reserves, but Pikachu supposed it was worth it for now.

' _I swear I'll get my power back somehow, someway!_ ' Pikachu vowed as he flipped in midair and grabbed tightly on Scolipedes horns, causing the large Poison/Bug type Pokemon to begin bucking like a Rapidash to get him off.

Roxie looked over and caught Ash's grin, the same grin he had against Koffing and her face paled slightly as she caught onto Ash's plan, ' _Fucking ingenious man!'_ She crowed in her head.

"Thunder!" Ash shouted above the crowd's roar, a sense of victory in his tone.

"Pika-CHU!" Pikachu roared again, and just like before the small Electric rodent Pokemon was engulfed in a massive pillar of lightning that scorched everything it touched, but mostly just Scolipede this time because Pikachu needed to focus what energy he had.

Pikachu jumped down landing in the middle of the battlefield as the lightshow died down once more, panting heavily, body covered in sweat and looking ready to keel over at any moment, but stood strong. Pikachu knew he could at least try to soften up the last Pokemon for Gible, and hope to ensure their victory.

Roxie let her guitar hang and actually liftted her hands up into the air after she returned Scolipede and began to clap, "That was amazing, just terrific, I don't think I've ever had a challenger with a set of stones like you before, ready to do the craziest ass shit in order to win." Roxie told him, before a secretive smirk played across her face.

"But sorry, I'm afraid that this is where the concert... ends, for you Ash." The white haired girl continued as he released her final and third Pokemon.

Ash wrinkled his nose at the sudden stink introduced to the air by this new and very large Pokemon. It kind of reminded him of a Trubbish.

Grabbing his Pokedex Ash scanned the Pokemon, " _Garbodor, the Trash Heap Pokémon and the evolved form of Trubbish. When Garbodor inhales garbage, it becomes part of its body. The fingertips on Garbodor's right hand spray a powerful liquid poison._ " His Pokedex rattled off.

Ash put his Pokedex back in his back pocket and studied the massive trash heap of a Pokemon. Garbodor was a Pokémon that had the appearance of a pile of trash spilling out of a large, torn-open garbage bag. It had a round, lumpy body that was mostly tan coloured with blue and pink lumps, reminiscent of mold. It's head had the appearance of the tied end of a garbage bag that had been ripped open and trailed down like a cape. It had two appendages that looked like clumps of garbage coming from its head, which resembled pigtails, or ears. It's large round eyes had small pupils, and when it opened its mouths, its large, triangular teeth could be seen. Garbodor had two extremely long arms made of garbage that were held together with piping, and fingers also made up of piping material. It had one finger on its left hand, and three on the other, with flat dumpy feet.

"Pikachu, Agility and tackle in straight to the chest." Ash ordered grimly, and suddenly, he knew Pikachu had no chance in attaining victory at the moment, but this last attack would give Gible and advantage.

Pikachu didn't even hesitate, even when he already knew Ash's Plan, the could practically read each other's mind after being together for so long.

Pikachu blurred forward at Garbodor faster than the eye could see, and crashed straight into the massive Pokemon's stomach, doing very little damage at all, and that was only because of his speed and momentum.

Roxie smirked, "Not very smart of you." She jeered, "Finish it off with Doubleslap!" Roxie ordered.

Garbodor pulled the panting Pikachu from it's chest easily with its long arms. Garbodor tossed Pikachu into air before swinging two glowing arms up, blinding white with energy and delivered two harsh blows to Pikachu's head and sending the small Pokemon flying straight across the arena, rolling to a stop after hitting the ground in front of Ash, eyes in swirls.

"Piiika...( _Ow...)_ " Pikachu muttered as Ash picked him up with a soft smile.

"Well done buddy." Ash whispered softly as he lay Pikachu gently down on the ground behind him. Thankfully Pikachu had avoided getting poisoned so he'd be fine with a bit of rest, he was mostly just exhausted anyway considering he only took one attack that did brutal damage because of Pikachu's lack of energy to defend his body.

"Well how'd ya like that?" Roxie taunted with a toothy gin.

Ash just smiled back at her "I'm not here to trade jibes with you, I'm here to win!" He declared confidently as he lifted Gible's Pokeball, "And with this Pokemon, I'm gonna get that Badge." Ash continued seriously.

"Still confident I see, damn you're one slammin' hot dude." Roxie commented. Ash wasn't sure if she was hitting on him or just complimenting him, but put it out of mind for now, "Lets see it then Ash, my rockin' man!"

"Lets win this!" Ash declared as he released Gible from its Pokeball in a bight flash of white.

Ash blinked, the Pokemon that appeared in front of him was not his mischievous and cute little powerhouse of a Gible.

That was a freaking badass and intimidating Gabite! Ash almost faceplamed, he didn't think anything big had really changed all that much with his Pokemon, not something like this anyway and so hadn't even checked with 'Gible' until the battle.

He really hadn't expected his Pokemon to evolve, but this was a good thing, Gabite was one beastly looking Pokemon, even if this one looked more mischievous than the rest of its species with that eye smile and toothy grin.

Gabite was a dark blue shark-like species Pokemon, with a red underbelly that covered from the middle of his abdomens to the bottoms of his jaws, and the rest of his undersides being a light blue in colour. Gabite had appendages that resemble jets or planes its four fins, one on each arm, one on its back and another on its tail; horns that resembled jet/plane engines rested on his head, each with a light blue stripe in the middle. Gabite had spikes on his hind limbs, and sharp claws on his feet. His eyes had black scleras and gold irises.

The crowd around them roared their approval, "Wow damn, look at that thing, an honest to fuckin' god Gabite! Those things are super fuckin rare and badass lookin' to boot!" Roxie gushed over the 'badass' Pokemon.

"It ain't a poison type but that baby is my kinda Pokemon, rock that shit man!" Roxie cheered along with the crowd, "Alright, Ashy my man, show me whatchoo and Gabite can doo~" She sing-songed.

"Gladly." Ash responded. "Alright Gabite, lets start this off with Dragon Pulse!" He ordered sharply, punching his fist forward in Garbodor's direction.

Gabite growled and happily obliged, opening his mouth and forming a large turquoise coloured ball of energy and launching it, the attack streaking through the air towards Garbodor rapidly.

"Use your arms to dodge!" Roxie commanded quickly.

Garbodor obeyed and used its massively long arms to push itself high into the air, standing on just its arms, allowing the Dragon Pulse attack to miss completely by passing underneath it, and then it landed back on the ground right after.

"Sweetness!" Roxie cheered.

And just like that, Ash had a picture perfect plan to end this in his victory, but he needed to wear down that Garbodor, one good attack should weaken it significantly enough for Ash to swipe victory.

"Venoshock! Roxie shouted next.

Gorbodor lifted its arms and began firing two separate streams of dangerous looking green liquid from the pipes in its arms towards Gabite.

"Dodge with Dig!" Ash ordered quickly.

Gabite dived straight at the ground just like Krokorok, burrowing a hole straight down beneath the battlefield and avoiding the green liquid easily.

Now was the time to put his plan into action, "Dragon Claw!" Ash shouted his order.

Gabite burst through the ground behind Garbodor and delivered a powerful and crushing blow to the back of the Poison Pokemon's head with a glowing blue claw that left a trail of energy in its wake.

"GARBO!" Garbodor cried out in pain stumbling forward a few feet from the force of the blow.

Ash knew that attack would only stun a Pokemon as powerful as Roxie's, but that was all he had hoped for and As Gabite landed, Ash completed his next order, "Now, Rock Smash!"

Gabite sprinted forward quickly towards Garbodor's back, one of the dual Ground/Dragon Pokemon's entire arm and claw glowing a powerful blinding orange.

"Dodge upwards and trap in beneath you!" Roxie ordered her Pokemon in return.

Garbodor obeyed immediately and used its arms to spring high into the air again. Gabite swiped at Garbodors back with his glowing orange arm, but missed as it jumped and he stumbled, and that was all the opening the large trash-heap Pokemon needed as it slammed down harshly on Gabite pinning the Pokemon to the ground with its weight.

"Sorry Ashy my man." Roxie told him her voice light and her face slightly flushed from how much she was enjoying the intense battle, "But this is where it ends." She continued, and was about to order Garbodor to finish Gabite with Hyper Beam when she caught Ash's triumphant smirk.

"Why are you smirking...?" Roxie inquired, an uneasy yet excited feeling forming in her gut. Couldn't he see that he was about to lose?

Ash chuckled loudly at her as the crowd quietened down to hear what he was saying, "You did exactly what I predicted you would do." The Trainer replied.

"You mean..?" Roxie began hesitantly, uncertainty clear on her face.

"Yeah, you fell completely right into my trap." Ash revealed to the shock of everyone there, "Now Gabite, Draco Meteor!" Ash commanded, triumph blazing in his eyes.

Gabite obeyed and bit right into Garbodor from below. Within a moment Garbodor's entire body was enshrouded in a blazing orange orb of energy before the orb was fired straight up into the highest height of the Gym, exploding and raining down upon the ground in multiple powerful firework like explosives.

Garbodor fell harshly against the Gym Floor, burnt black around the edges and covered in a great deal of bruises, the most prominent being a large purplish blue one that came from the powerful Dragon Claw attack Gabite unleashed upon the back on Garbodor's head.

Everyone was quiet in the gym was the realized that Roxie, the Varbank City Gym Leader, all round rock star and undefeated... had just been toppled.

Roxie gaped, before after a second she began to chuckle, "Oh my God that was fucking great! I don't think I've ever such an awesome and fucking intense battle." She admitted happily as she returned her third and final defeated Pokemon in a beam of red energy.

She dug around in her pocket with one hand as she walked over towards Ash.

When she reached him she held out her hand showing a small purple with gold trim badge, "Here, as proof of your victory here at the Virbank City Gym, I award you with the TOXIC BADGE!" Roxie roared at the end, followed immediately there after by all of the fans in the crowd, who were immensely happy to have witnessed such an amazing and intense battle.

Ash looked to Gabite and returned him in a beam of red light, "Good work buddy." He said before turning his attention back to Roxie and accepting the badge, quickly flipping out his badge case and inserting the badge before slipping it back into his jeans pocket.

"Thanks Roxie, great battle." Ash returned with a toothy grin of his own, his amber eyes burning with a crazy wild passion, in Roxie's own words, which would later be quoted in a song of hers.

 _Those Damn Sexy Amber Eyes_ – would later become a number one hit all over the multiple regions of the Pokemon world.

"I'd love to stay and party, but I gotta get my Pokemon to the Pokemon Center and get them a great reward for all the hard work they put in here to get my new Toxic Badge." Ash told her as he gave her and the many fans a wave before taking off running up the blue staircase and out of the Gym, off to heal his Pokemon.

As her female bandmate walked over and stood beside her, Roxie who had her eyes glued to Ash's retreating rear end framed by those suddenly tight looking black jeans of his. She couldn't help but comment, "Damn I'd let that fine lookin' dude rock my world any day." The teen punk/rock star commented.

Billy-joe, her female bandmate in the tiny red mini-skirt nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that kid could have his fun poundin' me Doggy-style any time he wanted." The black haired beauty of Koffing And The Toxics replied with a husky purr in her voice.

Ash had no idea the fun he missed when he left to get his Pokemon healed, and when he did eventually find out he'd been cursing his damn noble streak towards his Pokemon for years to come,

those punk band girls were damn hot, curvy as hell to boot!

Let it not be said that his old travelling companion Brock hadn't rubbed off on him. The woman loving doctor in training had fortunately only passed on enough of his bad habits to Ash that the young Pallet town trainer couldn't help but admire every piece of skin displayed by gorgeous girls.

He did, eventually, come back though, and just like Roxie had promised, the performance rocked the world of two beds, three tables, and one really unlucky sliding shower door; none of which could withstand the performance and needed to be replaced afterwards.


	11. Chapter 11

Ash closed his eyes for a moment, centering himself as to not allow his nervousness to get the better of him.

It was hard though, this was the big one after all, the Inidgo League final!

Breathing deeply, he was interrupted by one of his ever faithful companions, his first companion to be precise.

"Pika!"

Opening his eye's he smiled softly down at the yellow rodent pokemon, "You ready buddy?" He asked his partner since the beginning of his journey.

Pikachu smirked confidently up at him and allowed some sparks to generate around his cheeks as he walked beside Ash towards the entrance of the arena, the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak, "Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu replied simply.

Ash grinned, "Well, since you're so sure, I don't know what I;m worrying about buddy." Ash told his pokemon as they walked out of the tunnel and into the arena.

Surrounded by thousands of cheering fans, Ash was about to grin up and wave for the crowd before he caught sight of his opponent standing at the ready on the other side of the battlefield, and his amber eye's gained a steely glint of determination.

Long flowing dark blue-almost grey hair, he was wearing a red velvet shawl over his torso and a smart button-up shirt underneath, polished black shoes and grey silk designer trousers.

Tobias, he was the favorite to win, having only needed to use one pokemon to get through the whole league.

And even Ash himself had to admit the pokemon he used was quite the intimidating prospect of going up against in a battle.

Darkrai, the nightmare pokemon, a ghost-like black creature with piercing blue eyes, a small cloud like patch of hair on it's head that waved around in the wind and a red-like scarf around it's neck.

A legendary pokemon!

Watching it hover on the battlefield actually grated on his nerves a bit.

Gritting his teeth, Ash barely held in his snarl at the blatant arrogance of Tobias, he'd already chosen his pokemon before he even got on the field and was standing there smirking to himself as if he'd already won!

' _Idiot! Just because I didn't ge through the league using only one pokemon doesnt mean you sohuld underestimate your opponent!_ ' Ash thought in anger his lips in a thin line before his lips quirked up into his own smirk, ' _Fool, I havn't even used Pikachu or those two in battle yet! And my other three were barely used at all because their own battles were so short!_ '

Yes, hed known from the first time he'd saw Tobias that he'd be going up against the man who'd tamed a legendary.

"And here he is, the young man of the hour! His first National League tournament and he has already made it to the finals! The youngest ever I might add, here he is ladies and gentlemen...Ash Ketchum!" The commentator's voice rang out over the field.

There was a huge round of applause and screaming from the crowd, but Ash frowned for a moment, it was a noticeably smaller amount of support than Tobias got. He knew why though, despite quite a few people talking about how he was a 'prodigy' trainer, very few thought he stood even a slight chance in not being decimated by Tobias.

His smirk returned after a second as he fingered the pokeball around his neck, he'd teach this arrogant man not to underestimate him!

"This will be a six on six battle on an ordinary battlefield folks! Get ready for it folks I can just feel it's going to be a one in a million battle!" the commentator roared into his mic.

The referee on his podium to the side of the match began telling them the rules and other nonsense as Ash smirked at Tobias, "I hope you're ready, that clean slate you've got going by only using one pokemon is coming to an end here Tobias." Ash told him confidently.

Tobias smirked right back at him, "Bigger and stronger men than you have tried my little friend." He fired back mockingly.

Ash grit his teeth at the insult before calming himself and smiling back at his opponent, "We'll see, we'll see." He muttered to himself.

Just as their banter portion of the fight ended the ref brought his green flag down, "Begin!"

Snatching the Pokeball from his neck Ash smirked as he threw it into the air, "Time to make your debut, go Lucario!" Ash shouted.

In a flash, his Lucario appeared, the human size bipedal blue jackel pokemon landing in a kneeling position.

"And what is this! I cannot believe it folks! Ash Ketchum has one of the extremely rare aura using Pokemon Lucairo!" The commentator shouted.

The crowd roared but Ash ignored them in favour of starting the match, "Lucario, Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded.

Quickly Lucario powered up the largeball of aura before launching it.

Tobias seeing the imminent danger for a dark type like Darkrai even a legendary immediately ordered, "Ice beam now."

Darkrai gathered a blue orb over it's head before bringing it's arms down and launching the blue beam towards the oncoming aura sphere, resulting in an explosion of smoke when the two powerful attacks collided.

Ash seeing the distraction immediately took to the offensive, "Quickly Lucario! Extreme spee-

But he was cut off as a large shadow ball sped from the smoke and smashed into Lucario, launching the blue jackal pokemon across the field before it skidded to a stop, scuffed up and lightly damaged but fine nonetheless thanks to it's steel type attributes.

"Do not let up Darkrai, Dark Void now." He heard Tobias calmy order the legendary dark type.

Ash wasn't about to let the battle end so soonn though, "Lucario shoot that Dark Void down with rapid fire Dragon Pulse!"

Lucario jumped to it's feet immediately opening it's maw as blue swirling energy powered up in it;s mouth.

As the dark black orbs of the Dark void attack closed in, Lucario unleashed a volley of blue tornado like balls of energy, half of them mashing with the orbs of Dark void and canceling each other out before the last six orbs of Dragon Pulse screamed towards Darkrai.

"Protect." Tobias ordered.

As the large dme phased into excistence infront od Darkrai and blocking the Dragon Pulse attacks, Ash smirked, "Close the distance with Extremespeed and hit it with Close combat, legendary or not you can take that thing down!" Ash roared at Lucario

Lucario nodded before it phased out of view in a blur of speed, closing the distance between it and the dark type in naught but a second just as the protect collapsed around it.

Both Tobias and Darkrai's eye's widened, one in pain another in surprised horror as Lucarios glowing paw smacked into the dark type legendary sending it tumbling before Lucario followed up, a kick, a jab, two punches, uppercut, jab, jab, elbow, kick, knee,knee, jab, on and on Lucario battered the Dark legendary before finishing it's combo with a powerful roundhouse kick sending Darkrai crashing in a heap beside it's trainer.

The crowd was silent in awe at the beatdown the legendary received.

Tobias growled before snarling out, "Darkrai get up and use Ice beam!"

Ash was having none of it though, "Lucario, end this now before it can fully recover, Giga impact!"

' _Ofcourse Master!_ ' Lucario thought to Ash through it's aura as a large purple and yellow drill like cloak surrounded Lucario who blasted straight through the rcovering Darkrai's Ice beam.

Naught but a second later did Lucario crash straight into Darkrai triggering a massive explosion.

Seconds later as the smoke began to clear, Lucario landed from the sky infront of Ash bent on one knee.

When the smoke cleared everyone was shocked to see Darkrai still floating in place, although the legendary was in pretty bad shape, covered in bruises and burn marks.

Tobias gave a victorious laugh, "Hah! Darkrai is a legendary nothing can stop my unbeatable Pokemon you stupid whelp!" He shouted at Ash in glee, "Now Darkrai Dark pulse." He ordered quickly.

The dakr legendary had been forming the dark ring like beam in it's hands before launching stright towards the immobile Lucario.

Ash grit his teeth as he saw Lucario still recovering from it's Giga Impact and unable to counter, he could bring it back but then they'd lose the chance for a counter attack, ' _I'm sorry Lucario but I need you to endure this attack so we can finish this._ '

' _As you command master, I trust your judgment._ ' Lucario thought back to him.

' _Thank you for your trust, now counter with a full power Aura Sphere as soon as you're able!_ ' Ash commanded Lucario through his thoughts.

Seconds later the dark spiral of energy slammed into Lucario triggering another earth shattering explosion.

Say what you will, but even for non power type attacks like Dark Pulse, Legendary's could cause so much destruction.

As the smoke cleared, the crowd began to roar in applause as Lucario came back into view standing on it's two legs, covered in scrapes bruises and burns, both arms to it's side holding a massive ball of blue energy almost half the sie of it's body.

"Now Lucario!" Ash roared.

Like a bullet the large Aura Sphere was launched from Lucario's arms and sped towards Darkrai, the dark legendary panting in exhaustion from it's wounds and powerful attacks while wounded caused it to be unable to dodge.

"No! Dodge don't stand there dodge!" Tobias roared at Darkrai, but it was to late.

Approximately a second later, the large Aura Sphere crashed into the legendary dark type grinding into it causing Darkrai to cry out in pain before the large blue Aura Sphere exploded.

The arena was quiet as everyone waited in baited breath for the smoke to clear and when it did, the crowd broke into a massive earth shaking applause, screaming and shouting in excitement.

For on the battlefield, lay a battered and beaten Legendary dark type- Darkrai, completely unconscious and unable to continue.

"Darkrai is unable to continue, Lucario is the winner!" The ref shouted.

"I don't believe it, the rookie the underdog of the century! Ash Ketchum has defeated a legendary pokemon in battle! Ash has broken Tobias seemingly unbeatable pokemon and broke his clean record of only using this one pokemon per battle! What a young man he is! What skill as a trainer!" The commentator cried out in awe.

 **A teaser from the first ever Pokemon story I wrote.**

* * *

Ash closed his eye's and smirked as Lucario lowered to one knee and closed his eye's, ' _Well done I'm extremly proud of you Lucario, but no time to rest now there's no telling what he'll send out next._ ' Ash thought to Lucario.

Lucario seemingly nodded, ' _I understand master, thank you for your praise, I will not let you down'_ Lucario thought back devotedly.

Ash opened his eye's as Tobias recalled Darkrai ina beam of red light and held up another Pokeball, "So you defeated one of my pokemon don't let it go to your head kid, it was just a lucky fluke, a fluke I plan on making sure doesn't happen again and with this Pokemon I'll end you!" Tobias shouted back at him arrogantly as the Pokeball in his hand opened and in a flash of light revealed his next pokemon.

Again the Crowd was silent in awe.

Flapping it's wings and flying above them was the legendary fire pokemon, the pokemon said to be a phoenix! Moltres!

Ash frowned as he looked up at the legendary fire and flying type, bird Pokemon, "Shit." Was all he could think of to sum up his thoughts.

Tired Lucario vs well rested Moltres...

Tired Steel and Fighting vs well rested Fire and Flying...

Tired Normal Pokemon vs Legendary Pokemon!

Shit, Lucario sure had its work cut out for it.


	12. World With Skill 1

Ash grinned, thumbing his nose as he stared at his opponent eagerly, "Alright Kenny." The raven haired trainer began, "Since you challenged me, the first moves all yours." He stated.

In stark contrast to Ash, his opponent Kenny a brown-haired youth a small bit shorter than him had his eyes set, cold and almost glaring if one were to look closely, "Fine, then." He replied, outstretching his hand and pointing at Ash's Pokemon, "Empoleon Flash Cannon, now!" Kenny commanded.

His Pokemon, Empoleon a large bipedal navy blue Penguin-like Pokemon with a long yellow beak and thee large-pointed horns thrust both its metal tipped wings to its side and tensed before opening its beak and unleashing a narrow beam of silvery-white energy.

Ash allowed it to close in before he made his move, "Dodge it, Buizel." He ordered, amber eyes both calm and eager and a grin still tugging at his lips.

There was truly no excitement quite like a Pokemon battle.

Buizel obeyed in an instant, smacking the ground beneath him with his twin-tails Buizel launched himself a few feet into the air and allowed the beam of the Flash Cannon to harmlessly pass by beneath him and explode against a bush, removing the plant from existence.

"You left yourself open!" Kenny suddenly declared as Buizel dodged, "Drill Peck, now!" He told his Pokemon.

With a running start, Empoleon blasted off the ground in a running jump and blitzed across the air like a vertical spinning top.

Ash was nonplussed though, "Intercept it!" He ordered almost instantly in response.

Buizel met Empoleon's spinning charge head-on in mid-air and punched both fists harshly into Empoleon's beak. Empoleon continued to spin as hard as it could, attempting to break through and pierce Buizel with its glowing beak.

But no such luck. With each passing moment, the strength behind Buizel's grip slowed down Empoleon's spin and the dual Water and Steel-Type Pokemon's attack lost its luster. They landed upon the ground again, Empoleon back on its feet and bent over as Buizel kept a harsh grip on its face.

"Disengage!" Kenny shouted, eyes suddenly darting with panic and his voiced tinged with urgency.

Empoleon obeyed and tried to tug its beak from Buizel's grip, but the Sea Weasel Pokemon held strong. Ash himself continued to grin, "No chance, Buizel use Water Gun!" He said.

At point blank range, Buizel let loose the compressed jet of water right into Empoleon's face and let go of its beak. The jet of water, with enough force behind it to crush stone into fine powder ploughed into the Pokemon's face and carried it metres away through the air and crashing into the stone wall surrounding the battlefield harshly.

The stone of the wall cracked beneath the power of the impact and Empoleon fell to the ground face first, and lay still.

"No!" Kenny cried out, clenching his fists, "C'mon Empoleon get up! You can do it!" He continued, trying to motivate his Pokemon to regain its feet.

He needn't have worried though. Empoleon pushed itself to its feet a few seconds later after regaining its bearings. Its beak was bruised quite badly, and one of its three horns looked misshapen but other than that it looked fine. "Poleon!" It barked out, swiping one of its wings at Buizel in a challenging gesture.

Buizel merely grinned back. His fighting spirit soaring with anticipation for a good battle.

Kenny breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright Empoleon, let's end this here with Hydro Cannon." The brown haired Twinleaf Town native stated. He wasn't willing to risk losing here by getting in close again, he'd just have Empoleon blow Buizel away with the most powerful Water-type attack.

This battle was too important. He had to prove here that he was better than Ash and better for Dawn to travel with. He'd seen the way she looked at him at times, how excited she got when he cheered her on during Contests.

He almost shuddered with anxiety, it was far far too risky.

It took a few moments of preparation for Empoleon to gather the power needed for the attack. But Ash and Buizel seemed to fine to just wait and watch them for now. They seemed to be emulating the way Flint had battled Jasmine the day before, countering each move with as minimal effort as possible and then exploding into full powered devastating attacks.

With another loud bark, Empoleon allowed the power to explode forth from its beak in the form of a small icy-blue sphere of condensed and empowered water.

The attack was almost to fast for the eye to follow. Blinding in its speed, Buizel took action before Ash ordered himself and flipped straight into the air, right over the Hydro Cannon attack.

Ash was just fine with that though as the attack ploughed into the ground with enough power to leave a metre deep crater in Buizel's previous position. "Sonic Boom!" He ordered quickly.

With multiple swift beats of his tails, Buizel launched three sickles of compressed wind straight down at Empoleon who couldn't dodge in time due to the recharge recoil that came with using a move like Hydro Cannon – the drawback that came with calling forth and unleashing that much power so quickly.

Each sickle exploded on impact against Empoleon and pushed the Pokemon harshly into the ground, harder with each exploding strike.

"Looks like Empoleon still has some work to do on that attack." Ash mused as Buizel landed in front of him again and they watched Empoleon shakily struggle to its feet, its metal armour plating dented and charred from the multiple Sonic Boom attacks.

Kenny cursed under his breath, clenching his fists again in aggravation. It was true, no doubt about that. Empoleon had just learned the attack for the Grand Festival, and that went nowhere fast during his appeal round where he failed out utterly.

Empoleon had the advantage here, he should still win this battle hands down. Empoleon was bot fully evolved and of a typing that none of the attacks Ash's Buizel could use would be effective against. Not to mention he'd had his Empoleon long before Ash ever got Buizel.

Going by the statistics this should be an easy win for him. So why?

* * *

Dawn cringed as Empoleon went down again, "Kenny and Empoleon are really taking a beating out there." The bluenette 14 year old Coordinator commented, hugging Piplup in her lap, "And Ash n' Buizel don't seem to have even broken a sweat yet."

Brock sighed, cupping his chin in thought, "I was really rooting for Kenny on this one but this result is to be expected I suppose." He stated in lament. Pity, it didn't look good for another man in love out there right now.

Dawn turned her head to him, raising an eyebrow in confusion, "Why?" She questioned. Kenny was a very strong Coordinator, but he was being taken apart with ease out there.

Brock sighed again, "There's a few reasons really, but the two main ones are Ash has been a trainer since he was 10 so he has much more experience than Kenny who started when he turned 14." The Breeder explained, "And he made the mistake of challenging Ash to a normal Pokemon battle instead of a Contest Battle."

"Okay, I'll give you the point on the experience thing but I don't see how Kenny cant just battle like he does in a contest and put up a better fight now." Dawn responded, confusion showing in her sapphire blue eyes.

Brock shook his head in exasperation. Dawn was a Coordinator aswell, but he thought she would have noticed how much more intense Ash's Gym Battles were in comparison with Contest Battles. Best to placate her he supposed and explain it as un-insultingly as he could, "The thing is, Coordinators are always trying to show off the beauty of their Pokemon and their attacks and for that reason Coordinators do not focus as much on speed or power as they do on controlling the power they already have and learning to make their attacks as flashy and good looking as possible." He explained, "Thats why if you remember right Barry's Empoleon had a much bigger and powerful version of Hydro Cannon in comparison with Kenny's Empoleon."

Realization shone in her eyes, "Oh!" She said softly, hugging Piplup a bit tighter to her.

Brock nodded, "In comparison with Ash who has much more experience and trains his Pokemon day in day out to maximize their power, speed and durability – Kenny falls woefully short just like any Coordinator who hasn't been at it for years on end would be." He told her, voice serious and lecturing. This was a fact she had to learn and work around if she ever battled normal trainers.

"..But." Dawn began hesitantly, "If it's like that, then why doesn't Ash do the same to me when he train with each other?" She questioned. Dawn honestly hadn't noticed during Ash's Gym Battles, to be perfectly honest she realized she had always been caught up in the fast-paced excitement of Ash's battles which were nothing like the Contests she usually watched or participated in which were full of regal movement and beautiful techniques.

Once again, Brock sighed. He was beginning to wonder how many times in this conversation he would, "Because those are just practice battles, as much as for him as they are for you." He explained once again, "You wouldn't have really gotten much at all out of them if just Ash came at you full throttle and blasted away at your Pokemon with devastating attacks and so fast that he gave you no chance to counter or make moves of your own."

What could she say to that? It made a lot more sense than Dawn realized. She was about to open her mouth to reply when Brock continued, "Why do you think you managed to beat so many Coordinators with much more experience than you?" He asked her.

Her eyes narrowed and she suddenly felt quite angry at the implication. Brock saw as much though and raised his hands in a placating manner, "I don't mean to say it like you're a bad trainer or anything like that, infact you're very good but why do you think you managed to go all the way to the finals of the Grand Festival in your very first attempt?" Brock questioned her again.

That puzzled her a bit, "I thought it was just a combination of my skill and luck." Dawn replied, voice low and uncertain.

Brock shook his head, "No, that's not what I mean." He told her, "Let me put it another way for you." The brown haired teen said, cupping his chin and thinking for amount. "Aha! Okay, as simple as it sounds way back at the Wallace Cup May should have crushed you easily in that battle." He told her.

Indignation swelled up again, "Hey!" Dawn shouted at him in annoyance, Piplup glaring at him alongside her from her lap.

Nonplussed, Brock continued, "But she didn't for two reasons. The first was because she abandoned battling the way Ash taught her when he mentored her through Hoenn and Kanto because her Rival told her that was why she lost a contest she was competing in." He told her, holding up one finger, "Boy, that one actually hurt Ash to be honest." Brock continued, shaking his head sadly.

Dawn's eyes widened at that tidbit of information. She never knew, and they seemed so close when they visited. She wondered how Ash could have put what was basically a spit in the face for his efforts behind him. "Okay, then what's two?" She questioned.

Brock smiled at her, flicking up a second finger, "Two, is that you battled just as Ash taught you and still managed to incorporate beautiful and flashy techniques even then." He replied, "The truth is, May quit using a battle style that let her compete on par with the best of Coordinators all because of some bad luck and in the process, while her techniques were more beautiful her skill as a battler is drastically reduced." He lamented with a sigh, before smiling again, "but you did what she couldn't and kept the battle style Ash taught you and modified it to suit you." Brock concluded.

"And that's why you're both a good Coordinator and trainer, just like Ash if you remember his participation in the Jubilife Contest." Brock continued, eyes locked on the battle clashing infront of them, "Ash mentored you in battling, and helped you train your Pokemon to get all the experience, power, durability and speed they would need and the rest was up to you." Brock nodded his head after saying that, "Yup, Ash is quite proud of how far you've come. The guy might be a bit dense when it comes to the technical aspects of things like type match-ups but when it comes to battling the boy is sure something to behold."

"Huh." Dawn muttered in reply. She'd never thought of it like that. But now that she thought about it, most of her early troubles in Contests were during the appeal rounds. When it came to battling she aced it everytime. That brought up another few questions though, specifically about Ash and May.

"But if I done so well with it, why didn't May do so aswell?" She questioned, peering up at Brock from beside him as he watched Empoleon once again fail to land a blow against Buizel.

Brock's answer was simple, "She did." He replied, "She went to the top 8 in Hoenn narrowly losing to her Rival Drew who had a whole year of experience and training on her who then lost in the finals and then to the top 4 in Kanto where she again lost narrowly to a very powerful and experienced Coordinator after defeating her rival Drew – she was called Solidad and she won the whole thing and in my opinion in terms of sheer power and experience would have crushed you or Zoey in a battle." The once Gym Leader continued to explain.

Dawn's eyes widened bit by bit, and her jaw dropped open slightly, "What!? That doesn't even make sense!" She replied vehemently, "If she was that good, why wasn't she anywhere near that strong during my battle with her?" Dawn challenged, her eyes narrowed.

Brock sighed, "There's two reasons to that aswell and it's quite similar to this battle that's going on at the moment." He said in return.

Dawn raised an eyebrow, "How?" She asked. The blue haired teenager was quite confused, how was this in anyway similar to what happened with May?

"Well, to be frank Kenny is jealous of Ash the same way Drew was jealous with him." Brock replied, cupping his chin once again in thought, "Although, Kenny is atleast going about it in a better way in that he's trying to prove he's better than Ash instead of taking little digs at him like Drew did."

"What...?" Dawn said in reply, tilting her head to the side slightly in confusion.

Brock sighed, "No use playing dense now Dawn we both already know that Kenny has a bit of a crush on you and wants you to travel with him, well the same could be said for Drew with May." He said curtly, raising an eyebrow in interest when he saw Buizel slide through Empoleon's legs and trip the bigger Pokemon by hooking his twin tails around its legs as he slid along. That was quite interesting to see.

Dawn's cheeks heated up as the topic was brought up as bluntly as it was, "So? It wasn't like I was going to go with him if he won anyway, I already promised I'd be there to cheer Ash on during the Sinnoh League." She replied, turning her head away so he couldn't see her red cheeks.

Brock snorted in amusement, "I'm sure." He responded dryly, "But anyway, the point is Drew is a little shit who was jealous of how close to Ash, May was so he gave her something to blame for her loss and she did and then she went on to Johto with Drew after the Kanto Grand Festival to try and make her own battle-style but as you remember when she visited it didn't quite go aswell as she thought it would and that little prick Drew managed to both break up our travelling group and really bring down May's overall skill." He explained next, voice flat and filled with an almost cold anger that Dawn had never heard from Brock of all people before.

Her eyes widened significantly when he swore twice, she'd never even heard Brock curse by mistake before. Brock must have saw her reaction to his swearing because he rushed to both apologize and explain, "I'm sorry you had to hear that, but I really hate that Drew guy." He told her, "He was a very arrogant person and very spiteful aswell. He tried to break up the friendship between Ash and May when he blamed her losing on the battle-style Ash taught her, he was hoping for Ash to be more angry about it and cause a big blow-up over it."

She felt the need to point out, "But they seemed really friendly when she visited for the Wallace Cup." Dawn said.

Brock sighed once again, this time sadly, "It hurt Ash yeah, because whether she knew she was doing it or not May was basically saying that the battle-style Ash had created through some of the toughest battles and experiences of his life and then spent the better part of a year teaching her just wasn't good enough for her standards." He shook his head, ridding himself of the swelling anger in his chest. He himself was indignant on Ash's behalf, that was his best friend after all and he wasn't about to let anyone walk all over him, he deserved far more respect than that. "But Ash was really grown up about it despite the hurt he must've felt, he encouraged her to go after what she believed was right and even told her that he had faith she could do it." That was just the kind of guy Ash was, he'd do anything for his friends or Pokemon.

Dawn's thoughts were raging in every direction. It was hard to try and wrap her head around all of that. Her raging thoughts were interrupted by one last statement from Brock before he got back to watching the battle between Ash and Kenny, "Ash and May were closer than he and Misty ever were and I thought he and Misty would end up dating once upon a time. I guess the saying 'If you love something let it go, and if it is meant to be it'll come back to you' is quite true seeing as Ash let May go and when they met back up again they seemed closer than ever." He commented, "Although, it's not like there's a shortage on girls who are crushing on Ash – infact I can think of four of the top of my head with ease." He mused, his voiced tinged with amusement and his head turned to the side so Dawn couldn't see the smirk of amusement on it.

Dawn's thoughts whirled all the faster. She had a lot to think about it seemed.

* * *

Ash chewed his lip in thought as Buizel once again landed infront of him after countering Empoleon's attack. Emulating Flint's battle-style was going well, but he was copying it far too much and he was feeling antsy from holding back for so long. This waiting and countering before attacking style was good, he admitted it worked well but it just wasn't his thing. He'd have to work with it a bit to make it more flexible so it fit in with his own proper style of battling.

"Metal Claw!" Kenny commanded, breaking him from his thoughts.

Empoleon blitzed forward, bruised and dented in multiple places and noticeably limping but attacking full throttle nonetheless. Ash's amber eyes narrowed, time to win this. It was good practice, but the battle was going far too slow to be as exciting as normally.

"Counter Shield." The raven haired trainer ordered simply.

When Empoleon was a few feet from Buizel, Ash's Pokemon slid onto his back spinning rapidly and launching a continuous Water Gun straight into the air. The rapid spinning movements caused the Water Gun to spiral rapidly all around Buizel's spinning form and the area all around Buizel for multiple metres was full of lashing whips of defensive water.

Empoleon was smashed harshly in the face from the front, only to stumble back and be smashed in the back by another whip of water. From side to side Empoleon was battered around by the highly compressed whips of water.

Beaten nearly to a pulp, and dented almost everywhere on its body Empoleon fell to its knees groaning and eyes clenched shut in pain.

That was all the opening Ash needed, "Now come out of that spin into an Ice Punch, Buizel!" Ash commanded, punching his fist forward in triumph.

The whips of compressed water dispersed and Buizel shut up from his spin, fist glowing an icy-blue colour and delivered a spin-momentum enhanced uppercut right into the bottom of Empoleon's beak.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Empoleon briefly cried out in pain, before half of its face was frozen solid and the dual Water and Steel-type Pokemon was launched a few metres high into the air from the force of the punch before landing harshly on the ground, un-moving.

There was silence for a few moments. And then Brock stood up, waving his arm down in the direction of the downed form of Empoleon, "Empoleon is unable to battle, the winners are Ash and Buizel." He declared.

Kenny sighed in disappointment, but he took his defeat like as gracefully as possible, "Well done Empoleon, you did a great job take a nice long rest." He said, holding a Pokeball up and returning his Pokemon into it within a beam of red light.

Ash himself walked over to Buizel and rubbed the Pokemons head affectionately, "Well done Buizel, great job!" He said, grinning happily, "You're definitely ready for the Sinnoh League!" He declared, idly smoothing down the parts of his ruffled fur from the fight and patting him down to make sure he was un-injured.

Buizel pumped a fist to both Ash and Pikachu on his shoulder, "Bui bui bui!" He declared in return, eyes blazing with fiery determination.

Pikachu sparked his red cheeks in reply, smirking back while Ash laughed and held up Buizel's Pokeball, "We'll be leaving for the Lily Of The Valley Conference on a ferry soon, but I wanna work on turning your Water Gun into a Hydro Pump when we get there, kay?" He told his Pokemon.

A power attack like that was the only thing Buizel was lacking for now. And Hydro Pump would go a long way to fixing that up.

Buizel's eyes practically sparkled at the idea of learning a new and powerful attack. "Bui bui!" He said, nodding his head eagerly in reply.

Ash nodded, "Again, good job buddy take a nice long rest before we get back to some hard training." He said, returning Buizel back into his Pokeball and clipping it back onto his belt.

After standing back up to his full height he came face to face with Brock. The older teen was smiling at him proudly, "That was expertly done Ash, I can say with confidence you're definitely ready for whatever gets thrown at you during the league." Brock said to him.

Ash grinned at him, scratching his cheek bashfully, "Hope so, but there's a few other attacks I wanna get down with some of my Pokemon before the battle rounds start." He replied, trailing his fingers fom his own cheek to rub one of Pikachu's ears.

"Chaa." Pikachu moaned out in content as he lay across Ash's shoulder.

Brock raised an eyebrow in intrigue, "Really? What types of attack were you thinking of?" He questioned in curiosity.

Ash rubbed his chin in thought, "Well, I was thinking that Pikachu could use some defensive moves so I was thinking of trying to teach him Light Screen and Reflect." He replied.

Brock nodded his head. Those were some good choices for Pikachu. "Yeah, Pikachu definitely has all the speed and power he needs but durability because of his species isn't all that high and mostly stands back up from extremely powerful attacks through willpower alone, so those two attacks to cut down the effects of attacks and special attacks would be really helpful." He said. He waved his and in a 'go on' motion, "So what else?" He asked.

"Hydro Pump s a definite for Buizel, he lacks an attack of that magnitude." He rattled off next, Brock nodding along in consent, "After battling Flint I definitely wanna teach Infernape Flare Blitz and maybe Thunderpunch."

Brock nodded again, they all made sense to him. Especially Hydro Pump for Buizel to make up for his lack of powerful techniques and Thunderpunch for Infernape to deal with Water-types better. "What about the others?" He questioned next.

Ash crossed his arms behind his head as they began to walk and make their way to meet back up with Flint and Jasmine. "Staraptor is perfect for now I think, although a ranged attack like Hyper Beam would definitely be a big help, with Gible he still needs to master Draco Meteor before he'll be ready for the League and for Torterra I'm not a hundred percent sure but after seeing Paul's Torterra I think Frenzy Plant would be a great idea to teach him." He explained.

Brock nodded his head with each attack given for each Pokemon, "Those are some pretty solid attacks, but the problem is they all take quite a bit of training to master and you only have a month left before the League starts." The breeder replied to his best friend.

Ash sighed before grinning, "Yeah, but I'm certain we can do it. My Pokemon have never let me down before so the way I see it." He said, grin widening, "A month is more than enough time for them to learn these moves."

Brock laughed. Same old Ash, always confident he and his Pokemon could do whatever they put their minds to. But it wasn't a bad disposition at all in his opinion.

* * *

As Brock made his way over to chat with Ash, Kenny had made his own way over to Dawn after returning Empoleon to his Pokeball. Before she could speak up though, Kenny did. "Look Dawn." He began, his voice steady and his jaw set and with all his might trying not to belay his nervousness here. Confidence was the key, and his last shot here. "I'll be over at the lighthouse, if you decide you want to go on a journey with me instead of Ash I'll be waiting there for you." He told her. And with that said, he turned on his heel and made to leave.

Dawn sighed in regret, and grabbed him by the shoulder stopping him in place. "Kenny.." She began softly, "I'm flattered really don't think I'm not, but I have to be honest here when I tell you my feelings for you don't go any farther than friendship." The bluenette confessed.

Kenny stiffened and then he sighed. "I thought so." He said softly, "But I had to try, or I would've regretted it." He told her without telling her.

Dawn nodded, even if he didn't see it due to his turned back. "I understand." She replied, eyes towards the ground.

And suddenly his voice was back, and almost as teasing as it normally was. "So Ash huh?" He questioned, still not turning around.

Dawn sighed, shrugging her shoulders, "I dunno, maybe?" She said, sounding a bit confused. "I'm not sure on my feelings for him yet, do I like him like that or is it just admiration for everything he's done for me on my journey so far? I just don't know, and if what Brock said is true and I do like him I have quite a bit of competition."

Kenny barked a somewhat strangled laugh, "Well I've never known you to back down from a challenge, so if you do like him go get im'...DeeDee." He trailed off with the nickname he gave her during their kindergarten years.

Dawn puffed her cheeks slightly at the nickname, but held her annoyance in. "Where will you go now on your journey?" She asked as the moment passed.

Kenny finally turned to face her, smiling slightly, "I'm thinking Johto, there's still a few months before the Grand Festival over there so if I really push it I may be able to compete over there." He replied.

Dawn smirked lightly at the reply, nudging his shoulder teasingly with a fist, "That's just like you, attempting to get all five ribbons needed to participated halfway through the season." She joked.

Kenny laughed, "You know me DeeDee." He jabbed back.

The blue haired Coordinator giggled, "Well when you're over there if you compete against another Coordinator named Drew make sure you beat him and badly." She told him.

Kenny raised an eyebrow, "Did this guy do something to make you angry or something?" He questioned.

Dawn shook her head, still smiling. "No, but from what I hear he isn't a nice guy and deserves all the misfortune he gets."

The brown haired of the two snorted, "Right then, I promise to cream this guy if I ever battle him then kay?" He told her.

Dawn merely smiled and hugged him lightly before stepping back, "Good luck."

"Make sure you keep an eye on the Johto Grand Festival because you'll definitely see me winning it all." He replied confidently before turning on his heel and walking away, tossing a wave over his shoulder at her. "Later DeeDee!"

Dawn watched him walk away until he turned a corner and left her sight and then she sighed. She looked down at Piplup hugging her leg and smiled, "Let's go Piplup, we've got a lot to figure out before we decide on anything else."

"Pip!" Her starter Pokemon chirped happily, leaping into her arms.

As she turned and began to jog after Ash and Brock. Her thoughts turned to her feelings. What did she really feel for Ash? Was it just a case of hero-worship for her mentor? Or did she really have romantic feelings for him?

And who the hell were these girls that Brock hinted at that were pining after him?

* * *

Later that evening as the dark night sky fell over the ferry travelling to the Lily Of The Valley Island, Dawn sat outside their cabin staring up at the twinkling stars above.

She had a lot on her mind. The idea that she really had come within one successful attack of becoming the winner of the Grand Festival was almost mind boggling. She had thought it would be years before she even came close to such an achievement.

But it hadn't even been a year yet, and she'd been runner up on her first try. Thanks to Ash. It was amazing to think if it hadn't been for him teaching her how to battle she probably wouldn't have got her five ribbons in time for the Grand Festival.

Pokemon Battling wasn't an easy career path for any trainer. It took years to truly be great at it and build your own style. That's why it was such a big deal to her that Ash mentored her in his own battle-style as a basis for her to build her own style off of for contests.

Dawn could understand just why Brock really hated that Drew guy. And there was even a trace of anger in her for May. She could honestly think of no greater insult to Ash than to spit his teachings of his battle-style back in his face as if it wasn't good enough.

It kind of made her want to find this Drew guy and spit in his face.

Her vengeful thoughts of what she would like to do to this Drew guy in penance were interrupted as Ash sat down beside her on the bench she was sitting on. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked, running his hand through his messy raven hair.

"Yeah." Dawn replied softly, smiling at him, "Got a lot on my mind, ya know?" She stated.

Ash laughed lightly, "I bet." He responded, "Coming so close to your goal and falling short just an inch from the finish line must really frustrating." He said, patting her shoulder gently and sympathetically.

Dawn shook her head, still smiling at him. "Nuh-uh." She said, "I'm really proud to have gotten that far this early in my journey."

Ash nodded his head, grinning back at her, "I hear ya." He told her in reply, "I may not have won a League yet, but even then I'm really proud of all of my Pokemon for all of the hard work they put in. So I do understand where you're coming from."

After all, he may not have even gotten runner-up in a League tournament yet. But he may aswell have in the Hoenn League. If the referee had called that battle only a second earlier it would have been his win or a second later it would have been a tie because Tyson's Meowth fainted as soon as it was declared the winner. And then Tyson went on to win his last two matches with ease.

He was particularly proud of that, and in his mind he was more the runner-up than the person Tyson defeated in the finals with only losing two Pokemon in the whole battle.

But that was neither here, nor there. Because, pretty soon he would be the champion of the Sinnoh League.

"Did I ever thank you?" Dawn questioned, interrupting his thoughts on past Leagues.

He looked her in the eye and raised an eyebrow, "For what?" Ash asked in return. Had he done something lately that was worth thanking him for? He didn't think so.

"For teaching me how to battle." Was her almost whispered reply.

"Oh." He realized, before grinning. "'No need to Worry'." He quoted her, grin stretching as she puffed her cheeks slightly, "It's just because it was you and the type of person you are." He told her.

Dawn blinked. Cheeks deflating and turning slightly red, "W-what do you mean?" She stuttered.

"Kind? Determined? Passionate or even just fun to hang with." Ash ticked off, raising a finger after every point, "Pick one, they describe you to a T and I really enjoy being around people like you." He said, leaning slightly closer and allowing his grin to shrink into a soft smile.

With that said. He stood up, stretching his arms out and yawned. "Oh yeah, talking to you always helps me relax." He said, "I can definitely get to sleep now, g'night Dawn." Ash told her, patting her arm gently and then walking off back into their cabin to catch up on his sleep.

Dawn watched him go, her cheeks stained a dark red from what he said. Slowly, she raised a hand up to her chest and pressed her palm flat against her breast where her heart lay underneath. "Oh..." She whispered to herself in realization.

Her heart had skipped a beat when he said that. And she realized, things would never be the same way again when they were just friends.


	13. World With Skill 2

Trainer village, Ash had to admit was a beautiful place. It was a small village built to cater to competitors for the Sinnoh League each season. But even then, buisness was booming.

Trainers could book high-class cabins or hotel rooms to stay in as soon as they collected the eight Gym Badges needed to participated in the Sinnoh League. Some veterans stayed at the village even since the ending of the last league instead of leaving. Training constantly for the next league coming with the next season.

With Pikachu on his shoulder, Ash left the small cosy cabin assigned to him and his guests for qualifying to compete.

"Oh yeah.." The raven haired trainer moaned in pleasure as he stretched his arms upwards and felt his back give a satisfying 'pop' sound.

With that done, Ash looked around the area his cabin was in. The ground was covered in grass and lining down both sides of his cabin were other cabins aswell – dozens of them on end.

He walked on, humming contently to himself as the early morning Pidgey chirped above. There were battle fields assigned to trainers to train in if they arrived early like he did. But there would be far too many other competitors lurking around trying to get an upper-hand against their opponents by learning what Pokemon they had and how they battled.

Instead, Ash made his way behind the cabins and entered the forest that was situated a small ways away. Not coming to a stop until he came out of the side of the forest at an empty clearing beside a small lake.

When he came to a stop in the middle of the clearing. Pikachu took that as his cue and the small electric rodent Pokemon jumped down from his position on Ash's shoulder and stood at the ready in front of his trainer.

Ash smiled at Pikachu, before retrieving the five Pokeball's hanging from his belt and releasing the Pokemon within.

In blinding flashes of light, they appeared beside Pikachu in front of him awaiting his commands.

Buizel, arms crossed in his usual cool pose. Twin-tails twitching in anticipation for the harsh training to commence.

Infernape, bipedal and just as tall as Ash. White and brown furred with gleaming golden markings, flame atop his head shimmering with heat and his blue eyes eagerly awaiting orders from his trainer.

Staraptor, crimson eyes steady with his grey and white feathers neatly arranged. Standing proudly and even taller than his trainer. The red colored plumage hanging from the avian Pokemon's head made him look all the more majestic in Ash's eyes.

Torterra, massive and powerful. The continent Pokemon took position behind the rest due to his immense size, gleaming impenetrable green shell, large proud tree on his back and all.

And finally Gible, the smallest and most recent addition to his family of Pokemon. The small blue and red Dragon-type looked around blankly as if he wasn't even paying attention. But Ash knew better, Gible was a bit slow but there was an energetic fun lover behind those eyes that only ever gleamed when with friends or in the excitement of battle.

"Alright guys." Ash began, pacing in front of his Pokemon and his amber eyes serious, "This is it, we're finally here at the Sinnoh League and we're gonna win it all!" He declared, eyes flashing from serious to a shining determination.

There was a collective cry of agreement from his Pokemon, even Gible at the passion in his voice. "We've got just under a month left to train." Ash told them, continuing on, "So before the time is up, I want each of you to have learned the attacks I've chosen for you."

He looked each of his Pokemon in the eye. Smiling as he saw their steely determination to win mirrored back at him within each iris. "Right then, time to pair up!" He said. He lifted a hand and pointed at Pikachu and then Infernape, "Pikachu, since Infernape is gonna be learning ThunderPunch I want you with him." The trainer told his starter Pokemon, "Use a low powered Thunderbolt at his hand and keep it up until Infernape gets a feel for it enough to generate some sparks for the attack himself, got it?" He questioned at the end of his order.

There were no problems it seemed. Pikachu replied by pumping his small yellow paw into the air and replying with a, "Pi Pikachu Pikapi!" And Infernape followed that up with his navy blue fingered hand held in a salute.

When they both bounded off to train with each other, Ash turned his attention to Buizel. The amber eyed trainer pointed off to the lake, "Alright Buizel, Hydro Pump is for the most part just a more powerful version of Water Gun." He told the Water-Type of his team, receiving a few nods in reply, "In that case, I want you to keep firing your Water Gun across the lake and train with it until you can put enough power into the attack for it to become a Hydro Pump attack."

Buizel barely even waited until he was finished relaying his orders before running off to start firing jet after jet of compressed water across the lake. Ash sighed, shaking his head, "So much like Sceptile it's unreal." He lamented with a small chuckle. When Buizel eventually evolved and had enough power to keep up, he was sure he and Sceptile would become great sparring buddies.

With that done, he turned to the last three. Rubbing Staraptor's red plume affectionately he told them, "And you guys, I'll be working with personally."

The 14 year old trainer turned to Staraptor first, "Right buddy, the only thing you're really missing is a long ranged attack so on that note I've decided I want you to learn Hyper Beam." He told the massive bird Pokemon. It was true, Staraptor was nearly the same size his old buddy Pidgeot had been and could probably easily carry Ash on his back with no trouble.

"Raptor!" Staraptor chirped in reply, saluting him with a wing.

Ash chuckled, "You're quite lucky that I've already taught this attack to a few of my older Pokemon so know how to do it already." He said, "The idea is to focus your energy within your beak and compress it as much as you can into a small orb before unleashing it in a devastating beam of power." The amber eyed teen explained.

They could really focus and compress the power into an orb anywhere on their body. But the best place for a bird Pokemon like Staraptor to do it was within the beak.

Done explaining that. He left Staraptor to his own devices for now to start harnessing his power and trying to compress it – Ash himself turned to Torterra the Pokemon in his team with by far the hardest Technique to learn. Especially since Ash had very little idea as to how to go about teaching it to Torterra. There was very little information on learning the attack in his Pokedex. But He'd seen the attack enough times now to get a rough idea on how to do it, and along with the little information he got from his Pokedex he should be able to piece it together.

"Alright Torterra, you're learning Frenzy Plant." Ash stated simply. It wasn't really that simple. No Frenzy Plant was the most powerful of all Grass-type Pokemon attacks. Only extremely well trained and powerful Pokemon could learn it or its other variants in Hydro Cannon or Blast Burn.

The Pokemon learning the attack had to be all of three things. Powerful, experienced and gifted. That was why the likes of Kenny's Empoleon had such a weak version of the attack. The Empoleon was gifted, no doubt there since it actually managed to learn the attack albeit weak as hell. But Kenny had his Empoleon for at most a year, so it wasn't very experienced in using high powered attacks especially since it wasn't very powerful as far as Empoleon went due to it being a Contest Pokemon.

So Torterra's reaction of going wide-eyed and sputtering was quite expected. Ash merely smiled though, "It's fine, I have faith in you." He stated simply.

That got Torterra to look at him wide-eyed next. But Ash pushed forward, "Like with Staraptor learning Hyper Beam the theory behind using Frenzy Plant is your energy." He started, Torterra listening along with rapt attention, "But instead of compressing it, you need to spread the energy out under the ground beneath you and form the vines of the attack with both your energy and willpower." The trainer outlined.

Saying that, Ash reached out and scratched gently behind one of the large spikes jutting out the side of Torterra's head, "I don't expect you to get this quickly buddy, but I've known you since you were a little Turtwig and I believe in you." Ash told his Pokemon.

It was true of course. He had the utmost faith in his Pokemon, all of them. Turtwig came from a similar background to his Bulbasaur and was always battling and protecting Pokemon weaker than him. Ash knew he had the experience, and he definitely had the power for it - his many battles were proof enough of that to Ash. All that remained to be seen was if Torterra had the skill to manifest the attack, and Ash believed he did.

An honest to goodness red flush appeared over Torterra's brown skin and the massive Pokemon looked off to the side bashfully, "Terra.." The Pokemon rumbled happily at Ash's praise.

Finally, Ash turned to Gible who was once again looking at him blankly and the amber eyed trainer had to sigh, "Alright then, let's take it from the top."

And as Gible powered up and fired the orange orb of Draconian energy up into the air. Ash muttered dryly to himself, "At the very least Piplup is hidden away safely back at the cabin."

As expected. It was another dud and the attack puttered out high in the sky before falling way off into the forest. Rather close to the direction his cabin was in actually...

Poor poor Piplup.

* * *

Four hours. Four hours of blissful, sweat inducing, muscle pumping training was all he got with his Pokemon before distractions ensued. At around Ten, Dawn and Brock showed up where he was training and forced him into taking a break. So on that note, Dawn had dragged him off back towards the small shopping district of Trainer Village while Brock offered to watch over his Pokemon while they took a small break before getting back into their training.

Arms crossed behind his head, Ash sighed, "What a waste of time." He grumbled in annoyance, "You do know I could be getting more training in right now don't you?" He asked the blue haired girl walking beside him.

Dawn merely stuck her tongue out at him before pinching her nose with two fingers, "I think you've done enough for now Ash, you smell enough as it is." She replied, "You know when most people say that they're going to train with their Pokemon – they don't train right alongside them and work up more of a sweat than the Pokemon themselves, Pee-yoo." The bluenette commented with a shake of her head.

Ash frowned at the reply. He made sure she wasn't watching as he lifted his arm up and took a quick whiff off his armpit. The amber eyed teen recoiled in slight disgust at the smell. Either way, he shook his head after lowering his arm discreetly once again.

He wasn't much when it came to kata or the like. But he was no slouch in a fight himself, there was a reason after all he was confident enough to swing a punch at Mewtwo and pick a fight with Lucario. Plus, he found it only natural that if his Pokemon were pushing themselves to their limits that he should aswell right alongside them.

"Besides." Dawn interrupted his thoughts. "Don't you like spending time with me?" She asked, demurely poking at pouted lips with a small feminine finger and her deep sapphire blue eyes glazed with wetness.

It was very cute.

Ash sighed, looking away from her. "No, I love spending time with you." He replied, fingering the brim of his cap with a sudden anxiety. Was it just him, or had Dawn began to act a little different since they got here on Lily of the Valley Island?

He shook it off. He'd think on it later. "So why are we here anyway?" Ash questioned abruptly, turning his head back to face Dawn who was smiling brilliantly at him.

She blinked, "You mean you don't remember?" The Coordinator questioned.

Ash frowned at her in puzzlement, "Remember what?" He asked.

Dawn sighed, but then looked back at him suddenly, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh I decided last night that since you're going to win the Sinnoh League and become famous.." She trailed off slightly, before suddenly chirping, "You need a make-over to go with your soon to be fame and infamy."

Ash hadn't really been paying attention truth be told. He'd just been nodding his head along assuming this was another time where she dragged him off shopping and made him carry the bags. That is until what she said finally registered at the back of his mind.

"What?!" The amber eyed trainer shouted, turning to her hastily and waving his hands. "No way Dawn! I will not subject myself to becoming a live dress up doll for you!" He thundered, glaring with all the might he could muster.

That was until he once again saw the cute little demure pout on her face and the watery eyes. And so he gave in and let her have her way. "Fine.." The raven haired trainer groaned. He was never good at denying girls anything unless they were the loud and proud type like Misty or Angie.

"Yay!" Dawn chirped happily, latching onto his arm and dragging him off. Towards his doom and eternal damnation.

He sighed, looking up at the sky in defeat. He should have known this day was going to come. Misty could never get him into being her dress up doll because she was so overbearing when she wanted something. May, well she came close but he'd managed to stutter his excuses and throw Max in the line of fire.

With Misty it was easy to say no. Because she always got so angy and demanding. But May and Dawn always went with the cutesy pouting act when they wanted him to do something. And there was no Max here to throw in the line of fire.

...He should have made Max come to Sinnoh with him. The kid was probably just sitting back at the Petalburg Gym bored out of his mind anyway. There was no way Max would travel Johto with May when Drew was around. The kid did ask him to beat the crap out of the grass haired sissy once upon a time after all.

* * *

Two hours.

Two freaking hours of mind numbing hell. Outfit, after outfit he was forced to try on. And then when they were finally done, Dawn just had to pick out some 'cute' outfits for herself.

Arceus above man. He thought he had some pull with the big guy when he saved his life. What had he done for Arceus to punish him with such torture?

' _I'm onto you big guy...They say you love us all equally, but I'm onto you._ '

He drew the line though when she tried to get him to give up wearing a hat and get his hair styled. Small mercy as it was, atleast he thought the outfit looked pretty cool.

Black short boots with blue laces, black cargo jeans tucked into the boots. His torso was covered by a black zipped shirt with white under-shirt and atop his head a plain midnight black outdoors cap.

It was already noon when he finally managed to drag Dawn out of the boutique. And of course, he was the one carrying the bags.

"Never again!" Ash declared vehemently as they walked.

Dawn giggled beside him, her blue eyes alight with amusement, "C'mon Ash, don't be so dramatic." The bluenette replied, "It wasn't that bad."

Ash snorted, "Yeah it was." He glared at his female travelling companion in annoyance, "I seriously thought I was in another Darkrai induced nightmare – that is until I realized even Darkrai couldn't come up with such a horrifying dream."

Let it never be said that he remotely enjoyed shopping with a female. Everything to do with shopping became a thousand times more complicated and trying when they tagged along.

Dawn merely giggled again, before jogging a bit ahead of him and performing a little spin, "So what did you think?" She asked suddenly, "Did that outfits I buy look good on me?" The Coordinator inquired, eyes searching his face and a light flush across her cheeks.

Ash snorted once again as he walked past her and she fell in line with him again, "Dawn, you look great in just about anything." The amber eyed trainer replied bluntly, "Asking me again every time you buy a new outfit isn't going to change that."

She bought some new article of clothing every few days or so after all, literally. It was a good thing they were as good as they were in their chosen professions because the clothes she liked to buy were expensive as hell.

No joke. The new outfit he just bought in accordance with her wishes was a lot less extravagant than the ones she bought. And even then, this outfit costed more than a bag of evolution stones. Considering there were nine evolution stones per bag and they averaged at 2100 Pokedollars, that was a lot of money just to spend on one outfit.

The raven haired trainer didn't think he'd ever spent that much money on clothes before in his life. Trust Dawn to drag him into a boutique that imported all their clothing from the Kalos Region – the fashion center of the world.

Dawn's face flushed a deeper shade of red despite herself. And the bluenette sighed as she saw Ash barely even blink at the compliment he gave her. "Seriously Ash?" She groaned, palming her forehead in annoyance, "You'd be so good at this stuff if you weren't so damn dense."

He was never shy with the compliments at the very least, and he always seemed to know the right thing to say to lift her spirits. She blamed Brock, if he wasn't so obsessed with hitting on every good looking girl with a pulse – Ash would probably have realized that he was actually naturally flirting.

As it was, he'd been travelling with Brock since before he started puberty and had probably thought that the breeder's crazy attempts at wooing girls was how flirting went. And with how Brock usually ended up, Dawn supposed she couldn't exactly blame Ash for being so dense.

"Good at what?" Ash questioned, blinking in puzzlement.

Dawn sighed again, then she allowed a small smile to spread over her pretty face and she bumped her shoulder gently against his, "No need to worry Ash." She said, her voice filled with both sympathy and amusement, "When the time comes I'll teach you all you need to know." She promised, gleaming white teeth showing through her now wide smile.

With that said, the blue haired Coordinator began to skip ahead of him happily.

The innuendo flew right over Ash's head. And the raven haired trainer watched her pull ahead with a blank expression, "...Teach me what though?" He questioned himself.

His eyes were drawn downwards from her back to the swaying pink mini-skirt she was wearing. He let the question rest for now, he atleast had something appealing to look at while they walked.

* * *

Night had fallen, and the clearing was almost silent. The majority of his Pokemon had been returned to their Pokeballs for now to rest. They'd worked hard all day so they deserved a good nights rest before they continued again tomorrow.

There were two of his Pokemon still out though. Pikachu on one side of the clearing, and Infernape on the other. Ash stood off to the side, observing them both. It was always good to get a view from outside the battle – that way he could easier see what they needed to work on.

The practice battle kicked off with Pikachu making the first move. The small Electric-Type Pokemon blurred forward, far to fast for the un-trained eye to keep up with. Thankfully for Ash, he'd been battling with Pikachu for years and so could track the movements of his partner, even if barely.

In less than a second, Pikachu cleared the distance between himself and Infernape and came blitzing out of a spin at the dual Fire and Fighting-type with his tail glowing wit a blinding, silvery white energy.

With lightning fast reflexes, Infernape intercepted the Iron Tail attack with one of his fists imbued with the power of Mach Punch. Steel and Fighting attacks clashed and a small shockwave blasted through the clearing, severing leaves from trees and ruffling Ash's hair.

Infernape had his other imbued with the power of a Mach Punch attack. But had no chance to utilize his other arm because Pikachu proved to be stronger in a show of physical prowess and sent Infernape skidding back, his feet digging deep gouges in the ground below as he pushed with all his might to keep his balance.

Pikachu wasn't about to left his opponent escape unscathed though and his body exploded with a brilliant yellow aura of electricity, before letting loose massive arc of it in a Thunderbolt attack straight towards Infernape.

The attack was dodged with simian agileness as Infernape cart-wheeled off to the side. The ground were Infernape previously stood was rent asunder by the power of the Thunderbolt attack and left behind a charred black pot-hole equal in circumference to the arc of electricity.

Pikachu, still in mid-air was left open to attack. And Infernape took his chance. With a quick opening of the mouth, and a deep breath Infernape launched a corona of fire straight towards Pikachu.

When the Flamethrower attack closed in on its target. Pikachu flipped forward and struck down with another Iron Tail attack, cleaving the corona of flames in half and allowing them to harmlessly pass him by.

Landing on the ground, Pikachu with his tail singed slightly from the heat of the attack blitzed forward faster than ever, a silvery-white trail of energy escaping from behind him.

With his speed augmented by the Quick Attack, Infernape couldn't react in time to dodge or intercept the attack and was speared harshly in the stomach by Pikachu's full body tackle.

Spittle escaped from Infernape's mouth and the fire monkey gasped in pain as he was sent bouncing across the floor of the clearing, painfully.

"Pika pika pika pika pika!" Pikachu chanted the mantra as he followed up with his most powerful attack. Intending to end the battle right there and then as he blitzed forward with an aura of crackling, yellow electricity that encompassed his body ten times over.

Infernape, coming out of his last bounce across the clearing used it to his advantage and as he was coming down punched his way straight through the ground and dug his way to safety under the earth.

Just in time as not even a second later did Pikachu pass right over the hole he escaped into with his Volt Tackle before skidding to a halt as his target escaped.

There was no time to react as the earth beside the hole splintered and Infernape shot upwards with a Mach Punch uppercut that landed straight and true under Pikachu's cheek.

"Pika!" The electric rodent cried in pain. But gave as good as he got, he may have taken a powerful attack from Infernape's fist but even as he was hit and sent soaring he still managed to clip Infernape's shoulder with a hastily performed Iron Tail attack.

They landed at opposite sides of the clearing again, using the momentum they took from the attacks to their advantages. Although, not without consequence. Pikachu panted deeply on all fours, the bottom half of his face purpling from bruising that showed even through his yellow fur. And Infernape's right arm limp from the shoulder down thanks to Pikachu striking it straight on the bone.

Whatever pain they were feeling though, Ash noted that they both ignored it well. Because a second later they were at it again, Pikachu's body exploding with electricity as he released another Thunderbolt and Infernape responding in kind by firing another Flamethrower attack.

The massive arc of electricity met the corona of flames head on. They clashed, pushing against each other for dominance but were far too close in strength for one to over power the other and thus exploded powerful mid-air, filling the clearing with thick black smoke.

"Nape!"

"Pika pika pka pika pika!"

Ash heard the respective cries of his Pokemon before a resounding 'BOOM' exploded through the clearing and blew the entire smokescreen away.

Pikachu's body once again coated in the aura of Volt Tackle clashed against Infernape in the shape of a flaming wheel, pushing against each other for dominance.

Volt Tackle and Flame Wheel pushed against each other seeking to overpower the other. But finally, after a few moment the fire faltered and Pikachu pushed through, winning the clash.

The flaming shield encompassing Infernape's body was cleaved straight through and dispersed. And Pikachu's attack struck Infernape head on. The fully evolved form of Chimchar screeched in pain before he was launched straight into the ground.

The earth cratered beneath Infernape from the force of his landing, and the Fire-type twitched erratically as electrical discharge surged throughout his body.

Bones rattled from the impact, and the white fur on his chest seared and matted. Infernape still wasn't willing to give up. On shaky legs, the fully evolved Pokemon struggled to his feet from the crater he as blasted into.

And all the while, Pikachu biting his lip in pain due to the backlash from Volt Tackle watched with calm, unwavering confidence.

The discharge coursing throughout and over Infernape's body slowly stilled to a stop, and sparks began to ignite around his clenched fist.

But before Infernape could launch into another attack, Ash clapped his hands once and loudly. "That's enough guys." He called out to them.

There was a collective sigh between the two Pokemon and then they relaxed. Pikachu's black eyes turning soft as they took in his team-mate and Infernape allowing the beginnings of the ThunderPunch to fade and falling to one knee.

Both panted deeply, exhaustion from both the battle and training all day settling in. Ash had to admit, they both looked a little worse for wear but nonetheless he smiled. "That was great you two." He praised them, walking over and taking a seat in front of them both, "I saw exactly what we have to work on now!" The amber eyed teen declared, smiling with pride.

"Pi, pikachu Pikapi?" Pikachu said, cocking his small yellow head to the side. Beside him, Infernape nodded eagerly and pumped his fist into the air despite his position on one knee.

Ash laughed. He wasn't able to understand the way Pokemon spoke. But he was so close to his Pokemon that he could figure out the general meaning behind what they were saying. Like 'Pikapi' for instance, that was Pikachu saying his name or the equivalent of it in Pokespeech.

As for what they were saying. Well, he got the feeling that they were asking what he thought they should work on. So, Ash decided to tell them that. "I was right in deciding that we needed to teach Pikachu how to use damage-reducing moves like Reflect and Light Screen." He began, pointing at his first Pokemon, "Infernape only managed to land one clean blow against you Pikachu, despite that though it did quite a bit of damage." The trainer pointed out.

Pikachu sighed, eyes appearing downcast but nodded in reply to what Ash was saying. Pikachu knew that ofcourse, despite all their training in physical aspects they still hadn't managed to work past his species fragility. His speed was off the charts, and his physical strength was unreal for a Pokemon his size – being able to toss a fully grown Milotic as if it were a tiny little Ekans.

There was an instant answer to that problem. But he wasn't willing to submit to that just yet, Pikachu would only ever consent to becoming a Raichu when his Pikapi desperately needed him to and not a second before.

With Pikachu's evaluation done, Ash turned to Infernape who was still eagerly awaiting what they were to train him in next. "You were great as always Infernape, but despite your insane reflexes you still couldn't keep up with Pikachu's speed and you were overpowered a bit too easily when you clashed your Mach Punch against Pikachu's Iron Tail attack." Ash explained to his Pokemon.

"Nape, nape!" Infernape replied, nodding his fiery head in agreement.

So here's what we're gonna do." Ash continued with a grin, "You've got Thunderpunch nearly done, so once your done with that and Flare Blitz well start training you to be faster and get your physical strength up to par so nobody can overpower you like Pikachu did again." He explained. It was just a general outline, because it takes quite a bit of unorthodox training to get physical strength the way Pikachu did. And the same way wouldn't work for Infernape since he was a Fire-type and most of Pikachu's physical strength was gained training under water.

Infernape nodded eagerly once again and Ash's grin stretched a tad, "Right then." He said, standing up and pulling out Infernape's Pokeball, "You take a nice long rest, trust me you're gonna need it." And with that Infernape was struck by the red beam from the Pokeball and sucked inside.

After clipping the Pokeball back onto his belt beside the others, he picked up Pikachu and cradled the small Pokemon within his arms gently, "C'mon buddy, let's me n' you go take a nice warm bath and then hit the sack." He said softly to the Pokemon in his arms.

"Chaaa..." Pikachu moaned contently at the thought of the nice warm water soothing his aching muscles and the feather soft bed that awaited straight after.


	14. World With Skill 3

The month of training passed by quickly, and before Ash knew it he was standing opposite his opponent of the screening round with a Pokeball in hand.

There weren't many fans in the stadium. Seeing as most of them were attending matches of the crowd favourites – and he just simply wasn't one of them. Maybe in Kanto he would be, but over here in Sinnoh he wasn't well known at all.

That suited Ash just fine. They would all know his name soon enough.

"Trainers, reveal your Pokemon!" The referee suited in a yellow long sleeved shirt and black shorts ordered, swishing both his green and red flag downwards.

His opponent, a large burly man in a karate gi allowed his Pokemon to escape its Pokeball in a burst of silvery white light. The light formed and condensed into the humanoid, overly muscular form of a large four armed Machamp, punching its fists together.

Machamp was a bipedal humanoid Pokémon with four well-muscled arms. Its skin was bluish gray in color, and it had crimson red eyes with pale yellow lips. On its head there were three brown ridges right above its eyes. It had two arms on each side of its body: a pair located in the normal position, and another pair directly above that attached on the top of the shoulders. It wore legless black tights along with a golden power-save belt. Its legs were bulky and muscled to the extreme and its feet had two toes each.

Gah, he wished that thing wouldn't flex directly in front of him. Those rippling muscles and tight spandex did _not_ go well together. Thank God for small mercies that he saw no bulge.

He'd probably have tried to claw his own eyes out if that were the case.

Vomit inducing as the sight was, Ash revealed his own Pokemon at nearly the exact same time. Small and bipedal, the Pokemon had bluish fur at the top half of its body and yellow near from the underbelly downwards. Long snouted, its eyes were near enough fully closed and the Pokemon had four red spots on its back.

"Let's do this Cyndaquil!" Ash called to his Pokemon.

"Cynda!" Was the enthusiastic reply he got, along with the four spots along Cyndaquil's back erupting with fire that cascaded down the small Pokemon's back like a protective coating.

Good, it seemed Cyndaquil wasn't acting like his usual lazy self. He seemed fired up for this. Possibly because he hadn't used the little guy in an official battle since the end of his Johto journey.

Huh, damn he was kind of neglectful to his Pokemon wasn't he?

His opponent, Raymond if Ash remembered right, made the first move. "This should be quick." The burly man commented, "Machamp attack with Karate Chop!"

With great lumbering steps. Machomp broke into a run and sprinted right for Cyndaquil, all four arms glowing a bright silvery white up to the elbow.

"Let it get close Cyndaquil, then dodge around its attacks." Ash ordered calmly in response as the lumbering giant closed in on Cyndaquil.

Cyndaquil didn't deign to reply to him this time. But Ash knew he heard him regardless, it was just the way Cyndaquil was.

Upon reaching Cyndaquil, Machamp swung down one glowing arm. Cyndaquil replied by nimbly jumping back a small step and evading the swing. Not to be outdone, Machamp countered by following up with its two bottom arms.

Cyndaquil jumped back into his previous position, dodging in between both arms and then jumped straight up evading the forth arm that was swung downwards intent on smashing the small Fire-Types skull.

The power behind the final Karate Chop and the size difference caused Machamp to over extend its attack and the large Fighting-Type Pokemon barely stopped itself from landing flat on its face.

Just the opportunity Ash was waiting for.

"Flamethrower." The raven haired trainer ordered.

In the air above Machamp's head, Cyndaquil opened his mouth and let loose a spiralling torrent of searing hot flames.

The flames crashed into the large Pokemon's back and the force behind them drove Machamp to its knees, all the while the hot flames seared into its back.

Machamp roared in pain. Raymond cursed, "Get rid of it with Cross Chop!" He bellowed loudly, clenching his fists.

Despite the pain it was no doubt feeling, the Machamp managed to shakily push itself to its feet and whirled around, all four arms crossed behind each other and glowing with a radiant silver energy.

"Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted sharply in reply.

Like a rocket, Machamp shot forth spearing through the flames and cleaving them its way through with pure physical strength alone in its bid to reach Cyndaquil. Jumping, Machamp continued onwards intent on laying Cyndaquil out with a full powered Cross Chop barrage.

But upon contact, Cyndaquil seemingly winked out of existence. And then re-appeared, small body covered in a white aura spearing straight into Machamp's stomach.

Spittle flew from its mouth, and Machamp crashed into the battle field harshly. The upper part of the Pokemon's back was charred black in a few spots and blood freely leaked from the wound.

Still though, the massive humanoid Pokemon rose. Shakily as it was, the Fighting-Type Pokemon managed to push itself into a kneeling position.

That Flamethrower alone was highly effective, but Aerial Ace seemed to have done quite a bit of damage, Ash noted. Good, despite being in his bottom stage Cyndaquil still had quite a bit of power behind him.

And then Cyndaquil landed and erupted entirely with bright silvery white light. His body grew in size, elongated and another fire erupted from the back of the Pokemon's head.

Never mind then. Previous statements amended.

And then the light died down. "Quilava!" The newly evolved Pokemon declared.

His Pokedex was out in a flash. He didn't really know much about Quilava as a species after all, " _Quilava, the Volcano Pokémon, and the evolved form of Cyndaquil. Quilava intimidates foes with its flame's heat, and when ready to battle, the fire burns with more strength_." His Pokedex rattled off.

He noted with some satisfaction that the attack Eruption had made its way into his newly evolved Quilava's move pool. Brilliant, but he'd put that on the back burner for now. He hadn't practiced with it enough to work it into his strategy for this match.

No, better to go with the rather surprising move Quilava had learned as a Cyndaquil during his time apart from Ash.

Raymond gaped, Machamp right alongside him. And Ash grinned in delight, thumbing his nose in excitement, "Way to go Quilava!" The amber eyed teen shouted, pumping a fist into the air, "Now let's go for the win right now! Extrasensory!" He ordered.

Machamp hadn't even fully gotten to its feet before Quilava was on the offensive once again. His eyes lit up with golden energy and from his mouth Quilava let loose a large multi-colored crescent beam.

The Phsychic-Type attack washed over Machamp before it could react and was immobilized entirely. Once, twice, three times Quilava lifted Machamp into the air and then smashed down into the ground painfully before Ash issued his next command, "Now finish it up with Flame Wheel!"

"Machamp, Hyper Beam!" Raymond issued, desperation lining his voice.

Purple energy flashed all around Machamp's open mouth, condensing together and forming a small orb of deadly energy. Machamp couldn't move because of the Psychic energy immobilizing its body but it could still launch long ranged attacks from within its body.

To bad though, that Quilava put an end to that before the attack was even fully formed. With a quick jerk of his head upwards, Quilava put an end to his Extrasensory attack and ended up slinging Machamp up into the air.

By the time Machamp righted itself mid-air and turned to face Quilava. It was already far too late. Like a speeding train, Quilava enveloped in a massive wheel of deadly orange red flames plowed straight into Machamp's chest.

The collision caused the hastily powered Hyper Beam to explode in Machamps face. And with the combined damage from the exploding Hyper Beam and Flame Wheel Machamp fell the last few feet of its drop limply.

Burned and bruised, it did not get back up.

"Machamp is unable to battle, the winner of this match is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!" The referee declared, swishing his red flag downwards in Machamp's direction.

Shoulders slumped in defeat, Raymond returned Machamp without a word and left. Ash himself knelt down and patted his newly evolved Quilava affectionately when he padded over to the Trainer, "Good job buddy." The raven haired trainer praised, "Take a nice long rest, you deserve it seeing as you done better than I could have ever hoped in this battle." And with that said, he lifted Quilava's Pokeball and returned him within a beam of red light.

Smirk proudly adorning his face, Ash like Raymond turned on his heels and left the battlefield to go meet up with his friends. After all, he was done for now. He only had to win that one match to make it through to the Preliminary Rounds of the Sinnoh League.

* * *

Screening battle over and done with. Ash met up with his two travelling companion at Lil Litleo's, a nice little restaurant situated on the street just a few minutes walk away from the Battle Stadiums. The restaurant was named after a Pokemon native to the Kalos Region – Ash was a bit put out that he'd never even heard of it before asking the owner during his month of training when he stepped in for a quick bite to eat.

It didn't take him long to find Brock and Dawn. Seeing as they were sitting at one of the outdoor tables. He couldn't help a grin tugging at his lips when he saw that they had already ordered for him as well. It was nice having friends that knew him so well they could order for him – and correctly at that.

He took a seat directly beside Dawn, placing him opposite Brock and facing the older teen. While down below the table, Pikachu and Piplup chattered and ate from two bowls filled with some of Brock's special Pokemon food.

"So how'd I do?" He questioned them as he sat down, plucking a fry from his plate. His grin was positively gleeful, "Did I awe you with my magnificent Trainer skills?" He questioned, voice laced with amusement.

"As humble as ever I see." Brock noted dryly. "But I gotta admit, you did great during that battle." The breeder conceded.

"Mmmhmm!" Dawn hummed in agreement, smiling brilliantly and nodding her head. "The best part was when your Cyndaquil evolved." The blunette piped in, "I think this is the first time I've seen a Pokemon actually evolve when they're already dominating the battle; it's usually a 'snatch victory from the jaws of defeat' kind of event."

His grin, turned into a full blown smirk. "Well, it's to be expected I suppose." The amber eyed trainer conceded, nodding his head as if in agreement with something, "I'm just that damn good." He boasted, puffing his chest out in an overly proud manner.

Dawn flicked him on the nose, rolling her eyes. "Now now, don't go getting a big head on me." She replied, playfully wagging a finger in his face, "If your head gets any more inflated you may just end up floating away on us." The coordinator teased.

He opened his mouth to retort, but was interrupted by a loud cry of, "Get out of my way if ya' don't wanna get fined!"

Oh great. _Him_ again. Ash groaned internally, he better not come crashing into him once again because damn was it annoying.

The rushed words, the over excited shouting and the rambling about fining somebody left him with no doubt about who it was. Ash sighed, swivelling slightly to the side in his seat just in time for a tall, skinny blonde wearing grey slacks and an orange and white jacket to skid to a stop in front of him, "Ash you'll never believe what I just saw!" The teen shouted loudly, waving his fist in the air erratically and tugging at his green scarf with the other hand.

"Hey Barry how was your screening match?" Dawn questioned him. Interrupting his over excited rambling.

Barry automatically turned his head to reply, flashing the blue haired girl a thumbs up, "Great! The guy had no idea what he was getting into and I smoked him with Empoleon before he even knew what was going on." The blonde teen boasted. "Gaah!" He suddenly screamed, gripping his hair as if in frustration, "Don't distract me Dawn or I'll fine you! I've got something I really need to tell Ash!"

There was a collective eye roll shared between the three of them, but Ash humoured him anyway. "What is it Barry?" Ash asked, waving his hand at him as if to say 'hurry it up'.

Barry's head jerked towards Ash and the teen screamed again. Random passers-bys jumped in fright at the sudden sound and looked at him oddly, but the blonde haired teen wasn't paying attention to them, "I just saw a guy take out his opponents Pokemon in less than twenty seconds using a Darkrai!" Barry declared, loudly as was the norm for him.

Ash's eyes widened. A Darkrai? Man, talk about some stiff competition this year. Still though, unveiling his legendary Pokemon so early? Was the guy really so self assured in his win that he felt no problem in letting everyone know about his most powerful Pokemon off the bat?

Was he just arrogant in his usage of the Legendary nightmare inducing Pokemon? Or did he have something else up his sleeve? A secret weapon maybe? Like possibly another Legendary?

Ash didn't know what to think on that matter. But he wasn't scared in the slightest. In fact instead he felt a thrum of excitement in his veins. The tougher the battle, the more he and his Pokemon got into it. And just one legendary wasn't anything to be scared about, especially one of the low tier ones like Darkrai. They could be beaten one on one, the two wins he scored over legendaries back during his battles throughout the Battle Frontier was proof of that.

It wasn't like it was a Palkia or Rayquaza or something. Then he might have panicked a bit.

The thoughts on such strong opponents led him to thinking about his conversation with Professor Oak the previous night when he was rotating his team around for the upcoming screening match and then preliminaries right after

* * *

" _Got it Professor." Ash said, retrieving the final Pokeball from the transporter and holding it up to the screen to show the older man._

 _Professor Oak nodded in delight, "Splendid, Splendid." He replied, "I'm really looking forward to watching your battles on the television, I'm sure you'll do great." The grey haired man told him._

 _Ash smiled, "Thanks Professor." He replied, "That's all I really needed you for, so I'll be going now." The raven haired teen finished, lifting his hand and attempting to hang up the video phone._

 _Before he could though, Professor Oak spoke up once again, "Ah, Ash there was one more thing I wanted to talk to you about." He interrupted._

 _When he looked back at the screen, he noticed that Professor Oak was now holding two objects in his hands. One looked to be a necklace with an orange orb hanging at the center and containing an odd symbol within that looked almost like a small flame. In the other hand a bracelet that held a similar, but smaller orb which was green in color instead of blue._

" _Yeah?" The raven haired trainer asked, curiosity plaguing his eyes._

 _The older man held up both objects for him to see better, "I received these objects from an associate of mine called Professor Sycamore – a man studying the theory of Mega Evolution in the Kalos Region." Oak replied._

 _Ash blinked. Mega Evolution, what the hell was that? "I'm sorry Professor, but what?" He asked in confusion._

" _Mega Evolution is the theory that some Pokemon have the ability to temporarily evolve past their final forms." The Kanto Region Professor explained._

 _Wow. Ash didn't know what to say to that, it was pretty damn awesome sounding. Still though, "What does this have to do with me?" Ash asked._

" _Aha, now we're getting somewhere!" Professor Oak declared, smiling in excitement, "It is said that Mega Evolution can only be triggered by a fully evolved Pokemon that shared a close bond with its trainer and had the Mega Stone needed to advance to its next form." He went on to explain._

 _Ash rolled his eyes. "Yeah I understand Professor, but again how does this relate to me?" If Pikachu ever evolved into Raichu, they could probably do it. But that day was a long ways off._

 _The good Professor's smile stretched, shaking the large blue stone in his hand, "You see Ash, this Mega Stone goes by the name of Charizardite and it is used to make a Charizard evolve into its Mega Form – Professor Sycamore sent it to me because he believed I would have a much easier time finding a Trainer with a deep enough bond to his Charizard to trigger the evolution." The Pallet Town Professor explained further. It made sense in a way, since there was bound to be far more Trainers with Charizard's in Kanto than in Kalos._

 _His amber eyes widened in complete and utter shock. He choked slightly on his own syliva, "What!?" He shouted loudly, such was his shock._

 _Oak nodded, "Yes, it's true." He said, as if to confirm any doubts Ash had, "You share a deep bond with all of your Pokemon, so I am sure you will be able to manage it."_

 _Before Ash could shake off his shock and reply, Professor Oak continued, "I'll have these delivered straight to you, young man." He told Ash, "When you get them, make sure to send for Charizard – I'll be eagerly awaiting to see your Charizard performing Mega Evolution during the Sinnoh League." And with that, the video feed cut off._

 _Ash wasn't sure what to feel as he stared at the blank monitor. There was excitement of course, both to try out the Mega Evolution thing and to see his old buddy Charizard. But should he really be happy being given a hand out like that?_

 _Did he really want to become some sort of sell out? No, he shook his head vehemently. Charizard trained day in, day out at the Charicific Valley – if their bond was strong enough for Charizard to Mega Evolve then it just proved they deserved it. It wasn't something that would just_ happen _, like tossing a stone at a newly evolved Pikachu to make it evolve again, Charizard would need to want to evolve again, have the drive to grow stronger than his current body would allow. That wasn't common, despite what most would think._

 _On a less serious note, he wondered idly, just how awesome Mega Charizard would look, and how much stronger he would he become. That was a bit of a scary thought, actually, since Charizard had already reached the level of power and strength needed to defeat a Legendary Pokemon in a 1 on 1 battle._

* * *

"No way!" Brock gasped in shock, breaking Ash from his thoughts. "He has an honest to goodness Darkrai?"

"Yeah!" Barry shouted, "Damn, somebody should fine that guy! Using a Legendary Pokemon, isn't that like cheating or something?" He continued to rave.

"Sorry!" Dawn suddenly blurted, reaching over and grabbing Ash's arm, "I just forgot we totally have something we need to do!" And then with a mighty tug, she dragged Ash along with her and ran away from the area.

"Wha-?" Ash gasped, "Dawn!" But she ignored him dragging the raven haired teen along behind her all the way.

Brock watched them go, and then turned his attention back to the empty plates on the table and the still raving and ranting Barry, ' _Damn it guys_ , _You couldn't take me along as well_.' He thought dejectedly.

Not only did he get left with the bill, he had to be the one to indulge Barry's shouting or else he'd just be much worse later. Oh well, he would probably have broken one of the sacred rules of the Bro Code if he tagged along and got in the middle of whatever Dawn was planning for Ash.

Heh, maybe the dense teen would finally start putting his female wooing skills to the test? One could hope at least.

* * *

"So what's the malfunction?" Ash asked when they finally came to a stop.

He cocked an eyebrow when he noticed her shiver slightly. Was she cold or something? "Ugh, I caught Conway creeping around in the corner of my vision." The bluenette finally replied.

And suddenly his annoyance with her disappeared. He couldn't really blame her, Conway was as damn creepy as they came. And he practically stalked Dawn like some kind of rapist or something, the innuendo he always spouted at her didn't really help with the image he had going for him.

That wasn't really fair to Conway. He was a nice enough guy, and he meant well but he really did give off the stalker-rapist vibes at times. And his seeming obsession with Dawn made Ash leery of leaving her alone anywhere near the guy.

Better safe than story he supposed.

"Ah." Ash replied in realization. He patted her shoulder sympathetically, "If he was stalking me, I'd probably run away as well." Good thinking on Dawn's part to drag along a portable meat shield on such short notice.

Kudos to her.

"So how are you feeling?" The bluenette asked, changing the subject abruptly. He couldn't blame her, "Excited since you've made it through to the Preliminary Rounds?" She questioned further.

Ash couldn't say he wasn't. Only the top 64 Trainers would be going through to the Preliminaries. And then he'd need to win two matches in a row to make his way to the Victory Tournament where the top 16 Trainers would be matched up and battle it out.

"Damn right." He replied. What else could he say? He wasn't nervous in the least, more excited than anything. If they got put out early it just meant they weren't good enough yet, but he had faith his Pokemon were strong enough to take him all the way to the top.

Speaking of Pokemon. Ash noticed he didn't feel the usual comforting weight of his partner sitting atop his shoulder. "Shit!" He cursed.

Dawn blinked, "What?" She questioned.

Ash sighed, "I forgot to grab Pikachu back at the restaurant." He replied.

Dawn giggled. Noticing that she was in the same predicament and had forgotten to grab Piplup in her dash away from the approaching Conway. "No need to worry, both Pikachu and Piplup will come running when they want us." She stated.

Ash rolled his eyes, "When you say that, that's when I worry the most. I saw a full bottle of ketchup on every table, it could be days before I see him again." Was his response, another grin tugging at his lips despite himself.

Dawn pouted, "Seriously, stop quoting my mom."

Ash shook his head in amusement, "So where are we going?" He asked, changing the subject.

Dawn raised an eyebrow, "Well I'm going back to our cabin to relax." She replied, "I don't know about you though." The blue haired Coordinator pointed out.

Ash scratched his chin in thought, "Well, I've got a good few hours before I need to head to the main stadium for the Preliminary Match ups." The amber eyed teen said, "So I suppose I'll get some last minute Training in."

He was quite surprised when Dawn leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek. He blinked, face flushing slightly as he looked at her, "What was that for?" He asked.

Dawn, face flushed even darker than his own had a small smile tugging at her lips as well, "A good luck charm." Was all she said before turning and continuing on her way towards their cabin.

Ash watched her go, eyes drawn to her skirt bouncing back and forth from the skip in her step, and then consequently a little higher at her swaying hips. Smile stretching a bit as he touched his cheek with one hand. ' _Talk about confidence in herself_.' He mused.

"Hey Dawn!" He shouted, suddenly remembering about Pikachu, "When Brock gets back to the cabin with Pikachu wanna send'm on over to where I Train?"

"Sure, no need to worry!" She shouted back without even turning to face him.

He hated to see her go. But he sure did love to watch her leave. It wasn't hard to see why Conway was so obsessed with the girl. She had a lot of good qualities.

* * *

Dawn stood beside Brock in the stands. Clapping along with the many fans as the top 64 participants made their way onto the field of the stadium. Each one with a Pokemon accompanying them.

She whooped and cheered loudly as her blue eyes caught sight of Ash walking confidently in the middle of the pack. Pikachu hanging from his shoulder and making him stand out from the rest who just had Pokemon walking beside them.

Bright lights illuminated the entire stadium. Beams of orange light moving from side to side and shooting high up into the sky, Wailord and Mantine blimps flying overhead filled to the brim with advertisements and firework after firework being set off.

It was truly an exciting event.

"This is really great!" Dawn shouted over the noisy crowd.

Brock laughed in reply, "I forgot this is your first time being at the opening ceremony of a League." The brown haired breeder shouted back, "You shoulda' seen the excitement at the Indigo Plateau when Moltres showed up!"

Dawn laughed, she could scarcely imagine the beautiful Legendary Pokemon just randomly appearing because Team Rocket stole some of its fire. Brock had made sure to fill her in on what League Conference's were like exactly, but it never prepared her for this.

Contests and the Grand Festival pulled in large crowds. But nothing like this, there had to be at least a hundred thousand fans littering the stands and cheering their hearts out.

Two torch runners stood beside the flame pot. And together they lit it, along a large bonfire to roar into existence and tower above the stadium.

" _ **And with the lighting of the Sinnoh League flame – the Lily Of The Valley Conference is officially under way**_!" The MC declared, his voice deep and echoing around the entire stadium.

The fireworks above exploded with a vengeance and Dawn couldn't keep the grin off her face as she sat down in her seat and pulled Piplup into her lap.

Brock sat down beside her and grinned at her, "It can get really intense, eh?" He prodded. "Let's just hope it doesn't go to Ash's head."

Dawn snorted, "I doubt there's much room left in that head of his." She quipped back in amusement.

They both laughed loudly. There was no doubt about it, Ash was confident to near the point of arrogance. That was just how much faith he had in himself and his Pokemon. It would be annoying if it wasn't so damn endearing.

* * *

As the crowd roared with screaming fans, and the fireworks erupted with mighty explosive bangs above. Ash smiled in anticipation, "It's finally happening buddy." He said to the Pokemon on his shoulder.

"Pi pi Pikapi!" The little Electric-Type rodent Pokemon replied pumping a small yellow fist.

Ash chuckled. Reaching up, he rubbed one of Pikachu's cheeks gently as his eyes panned over the entire stadium. His amber eyes locked on a compartment above the stands where he could quite clearly see the form of a small old man with a bushy white beard and a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair and wearing all black, "Check it out." He said to his Pokemon, pointing at them, "It's Mr. Goodshow and Cynthia."

While looking up at them. His eyes actually met hers and she smiled at him, nodding her in congratulations for having come this far.

Ash merely smirked up at her and gave her a nod of his own before turning his attention elsewhere. His eyes panned over the other 63 competitors in the stadium, searching for people he knew personally. It didn't take much to find them, they were all stationed quite close to him. Nando, Conway, Barry and Paul looking as cold as ever stared up at the massive screen in front of them all.

He didn't see the guy with the Darkrai anywhere though, dang. He wanted to get a good look at the guy, but oh well.

He turned his own attention back to the massive screen as he heard the MC start speaking up again, " _ **Now**_ , _ **it's time to unveil the Lily Of The Valley Conference's first round Match ups**_." He began, his voice reverberating around the entire stadium, " _ **So...Here they are**_!" He declared.

With a flourish of color, a multitude of faces appeared on the screen. Each two paired together. His own face was near the very top, and he couldn't help the smirk that began to stretch across his face.

His first opponent in the preliminaries, was Conway.

"Lucky us." He commented to Pikachu, still grinning in excitement, "We got somebody strong right off the bat." And it was true. Despite his questionable habits, Conway was a very good Trainer who had some really tough Pokemon. Ash would need to pick his team for this battle carefully because there was a very real chance Conway could beat him.

He couldn't say he wasn't looking forward to it though.

His amber eyes met Conway's glinting gasses through the crowd. And they shared a pair of smirks with each other.

' _Good luck Conway_ , _Just because your kind of a friend doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you_.' Ash thought with relish.

Conway, Nando, Barry, Paul or even that guy with the Darkrai. It didn't matter, he'd go right through them all if he had to. He was going to be the one walking away the winner this time.


	15. World With Skill 4

Slowly, both the battlefield and the trainers were raised up from underground into view. Ash locked eyes with Conway's glinting glasses and he smirked in anticipation.

" _ **The Trainers who will battle it out today on the grass battle field are Conway... and Ash**_!" The MC declared, revving up the cheering crowd, " _ **This will be a three on three battle and it will be over when all three Pokemon on either side are unable to continue – so who will be the one to advance to the second round of the Preliminaries**_?"

"Call it." The referee donned in yellow and black shouted, flipping a coin into the air.

"Heads." Ash guessed, while Conway remained silent.

" _ **We use coin toss to decide who gets the first attack**_." The Mc explained. Catching the coin, the referee took a look and then pointed at Conway, " _ **And it seems Conway has won the first attack**_ , _**Trainers reveal your Pokemon**_!"

In twin bursts of silvery white light. Two Pokemon took form before their Trainers. In front of Conway materialized a rather small Pokemon with a red armoured shell covering its entire body and multiple holes which secreted yellow tentacles.

Meanwhile, standing before Ash appeared a large four legged beast. Brown haired, with a grey mane, the Pokemon had two sharp horns, a long snout and three thin tails.

" _ **It seems Conway has chosen to start things off with Shuckle**_ , _**While Ash has deigned to send out his Tauros**_ – _ **Who will be the winner between these two diverse sets of Pokemon**_?" The MC commentated.

Up above on the massive screen off to the side of the battlefield. Both Ash and Conway's pictures with three blank icons below – lit up and each of the trainers had one blank icon replaced by pictures of their Pokemon.

"Heh." Conway snorted, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose with one finger and smiling confidently, "Just as I predicted." He said, his voice reaching Ash's ears easily despite the noise of the crowd, "You chose a fast and powerful Pokemon." He explained when Ash raised an eyebrow in question.

' _What's his game here_?' Ash thought to himself. Shuckle were well known for their defensive abilities, but their attack power was severely low. There wasn't really much Shuckle could do in a battle besides play it defensively and possibly use health and stat oriented moves like Toxic.

"Begin!" the referee declared, swinging both flags held in his hands down.

"Withdraw, Shuckle!" Conway ordered.

With a quick retraction of its tentacles, Shuckle escaped entirely into its hard shell. The effect of the move became obvious a second later when the shell began to glow a deep crimson red for a few moments before dying down.

So he was going for a defensive play after all then? Well Ash wouldn't be letting that continue, "Tauros, Horn Attack!" The raven haired trainer commanded.

"Moooo!" Tauos bellowed loudly, taking off in a speeding charge with his horns at the ready.

"Withdraw again!" Conway followed up, smirking all the while.

Shuckle had enough time to perform the technique, just barely, before Tauros was upon it and spearing his horns into the hard shell with all his considerable strength.

A small shockwave blasted through the battlefield. Shell and horns stayed locked in a stalemate before Tauros was the one blasted backwards, grinding his legs so hard into the grass beneath as he slid back he left deep trenches in the grass.

"Heh, you've fallen right into my trap." Conway commented Ash raised an eyebrow once again in as if to say 'oh really?'. "Shuckle, Power Trick!" The glasses wearing trainer let his orders do the talking for him.

Ash's eyes widened as Shuckle re-appeaed from its shell and began to glow with a multitude of colors. He'd forgotten all about that attack – and it was picture perfect for a Pokemon like Shuckle. Still though, there were drawbacks to such a move.

"Now Gyro Ball!" Conway followed up.

* * *

Dawn, hugging Piplup to her chest and sitting in the stands beside Brock and Barry blinked in confusion, "What's Power Trick?" She asked.

"I knew he was gonna do that!" Barry whined, rubbing at his blonde hair erratically, "Somebody should fine that guy, gah!" He shouted.

Brock rolled his eyes, but deigned to ignore Barry and answer Dawn's question, "It's a technique that allows a Pokemon to switch their Defensive power with their Attacking power." He replied, "So it's a great move to pull with a Shuckle who has amazing defense but very low attacking power." The breeder explained.

Dawn frowned, "To be expected of Conway." She said, "To pull off a strategy like that."

* * *

A massive boom resounded throughout the stadium as Shuckle's spinning form struck true. The force behind the blow kicking up a massive dust cloud.

"And that's all she wrote for Tauros." Conway commented smugly

Therefore, so sure in his victory. Conway was mightily surprised when the cloud dispersed to show Tauros still standing, and with Shuckle caught between its horns.

"How!?" Conway was shocked silly, to say the least. Very few Pokemon could compare with a Shuckle's defense, but in return it had such low attack power a young Magikarp could overpower it. So using Power Trick, that should have translated over should it not have?

"You seem to have forgotten, Conway." Ash shouted over, thumbing his nose and smirking. "Not many Pokemon can take on a Tauros in a clash of physical strength, especially one of mine." And of course, Shuckle's strength was fake, a temporary and unnatural boost, and the Pokemon had little experience in comparison with Tauros at using such immense strength.

"You practically handed me this round!" Ash declared, triumph in his voice. It was a good strategy, but Conway, in his arrogance, let it get to his head and left Shuckle defenceless.

Conway's eyes widened as he also realized the implications of having Shuckle caught between Tauros' horns. But it was far too late for him to do anything about it, "Smash it into the ground and Hyper Beam!" Ash commanded.

Wit a mighty heave, Tauros slammed Shuckle into the grass beneath them powerfully. And while Shuckle cried out in pain, an orb of deadly purple energy formed and condensed within Tauros' mouth.

"Shuckle!" Conway cried in worry, raising his Pokeball in a desperate attempt to recall the Pokemon.

Far, far too late.

With a loud cry from Tauros, the deadly beam of devastating purple energy erupted from his mouth and was upon Shuckle before the defenceless Pokemom could so much as blink.

Exploding with searing heat, Shuckle stood no chance with its defensive prowess all but gone due to Power Trick and the small red shelled Pokemon was blasted straight into the wall behind Conway. Leaving a large, crater like dent in the metal surface.

" _ **And with a bit of quick thinking and explosive power**_ , _ **Ash takes the first win of the match**_!" The MC declared.

Conway sighed. Saying nothing, he let the red beam from his Pokeball hit the practically comatose Shuckle and return it inside.

Switching the Pokeball for another, Conway tossed it up and released his next Pokemon. He still had his strategy for Ash after all – with his personality it was obvious to a genius such as he that he would focus on strong and fast Pokemon because that was the way Ash preferred to battle. Even that Torterra of his was fast in comparison with the rest of its species.

"Lickilicky, let's go!" Conway said, releasing his second Pokemon.

The evolved form of Lickitung appeared in front of him. Massive, pink and rotund the Pokemon had a gargantuan tongue that stretched all the way from its mouth down to its feet.

Up above, Conway first icon containing Shuckle's picture went dark and his second icon lit up with a picture of his Lickilicky.

* * *

"Wooh, way to go Ash!" Dawn cheered.

"You better kept this up Ash, or I'm gonna fine you!" Barry cheered on next.

Brock himself was nodding with approval. Ash really took advantage of Shuckle's disadvantages when using Power Trick. Even with all that power, Shuckle was still very slow so had no momentum behind its attacks and was left without any defense to speak of. So one well placed and powerful attack was all that was needed to take that round. He really used Tauros' natural strength to its utmost potential there.

Still though, he couldn't afford to let up here. Conway still posed a massive threat. The teen was incredibly smart, so Brock doubted he didn't have a few strategies in place for if this kind of thing happened.

Even then, predicting Ash would be one of the hardest things Conway could ever attempt. Because even after travelling with him for four years, Brock still hadn't managed to narrow down just how the younger teens thought process went in a battle.

* * *

Ash wasn't content to wait for Conway to attack this time. "Fissure!" The raven haired trainer ordered.

With another loud bellow, Tauros stood up on his hind legs and smashed down upon the grass battlefield beneath harshly.

The ground split from the force of the attack, and from that split an arc of bladed silver energy sliced through the grass towards Lickilickly.

Spinning off to the side, Lickilicky narrowly avoided the blade of energy. But as it dodged, Tauros was already stampeding in.

"Stone Edge!" Ash shouted over the roaring crowd.

As Tauros charged, a multitude of glowing spheres manifested around his charging form and took on the shape of small fist sized rocks. With a jerk of his head, Tauros sent the Stone Edge flying at Lickilicky.

"Power Whip, then follow up with Thunderbolt!" Was Conway's sharp reply to the hail of stones.

Coming out of its spin, Lickylicky threw its tongue outwards, glowing with pink energy and extending to an even greater size. With minimal effort, the massive tongue swiped the barrage of rocks out of the air and then was followed up quickly by a brilliant yellow arc of electricity.

Tauros was far too close to dodge. So Ash did the only thing he could.

"Charge right through!" The amber eyed teen ordered, eyes narrowed and fists clenched.

Tauros kept charging, and the arc of electricity struck true. With a great bellow of pain, Tauros was zapped by the attack and caused continuous damage as Lickilicky kept the attack going.

It was a battle of wills that no side would be the true victor in.

Lickilicky was too slow to avoid Tauros if it let go of the Thunderbolt, so its only option was to keep going and attempt to bring the charging bull Pokemon down before it reached it.

"Horn Attack!" Ash shouted suddenly when Tauros was mere metres away.

Twin horns erupting with bright light, Tauros leaped into the air and jumped the last bit of distance between him and Lickilicky.

The Thunderbolt was stopped, and Lickylicky gave a rumble of pain as the horns pierced its stomach and then sent the massive, rotound Pokemon skidding back a considerable distance.

Lickylicky barely kept standing, blood trickling down from the wound on its chest. While Tauros, fur singed and smoking from the electrical charge collapsed onto his knees.

Ash grimaced. That Thunderbolt had done a lot of damage, and his earlier clash with Shuckle left more damage than he'd shown. He may have caught the attack, but that did nothing to stop the impact from the attack and Tauros took that attack straight to the skull.

This was bad. Even the bulkiest Pokemon could be brought down easily if they took a good blow to the skull, Paul's Torterra was proof enough of that when Cynthia's Garchomp took it out with one blow.

On shaky legs, Tauros pushed himself back into a standing position and stood proudly despite the damage he had taken already.

Conway knew though that Lickilicky was the better off of the two though and wasn't about to let Tauros rest a bit and regain any energy. "Let's end this now Lickilicky, use Surf!" The glasses wearing training ordered sharply.

Ash's eyes bugged. How the hell would he even teach a Lickilicky to use Surf?

A sphere made up of pure water formed at the tip of its tongue, and Lickilicky smashed it down onto the ground below. There was a rumble, and then hardly time for the human eye to blink, a massive surge of water roared up from the depths of the ground below in the form of a massive wave.

Lickilicky stood safely behind the massive wave, taking refuge from any possible counter attack from Tauros. Ash grit his teeth and swore. Tauros had no attacks beside Hyper Beam that could possible obliterate that wave before it made it to him, so that left him with one option.

Brute force.

"Go right through it and end this with Giga Impact!" He commanded.

With a great, prideful bellow. Tauros once again charged into the fray.

Purple energy sparked, and a giant aura of purple energy coated Tauros' body and was then layered over by a spiralling yellow energy. The duo of aura's covering the Pokemon's body made it look like some sort of missile.

With one more last bellow, Tauros met the wave and cleaved straight the raging water like a hot knife through butter.

The wave imploded on itself as Tauros burst through the other end and Lickilicky had no time to react as the charging Pokemon hit it dead on and the stadium was rocked by another massive 'BOOm' that sent a rippling shockwave so strong throughout the battlefield the referee was knocked off his feet.

And when the dust fell, neither Pokemon were left standing.

" _ **Well would you look at that folks**_!" The MC shouted enthusiastically, " _ **Neither Pokemon are able to continue battling, thus leaving Ash with two Pokemon left while Conway only has one remaining**_ – _**Can he make a comeback**_? _ **We'll just have to wait and see**_."

Both icons up on the scoreboard for Tauros and Lickylicky dulled away until the images were blacked out.

Returning Tauros to his Pokeball, Ash smiled fondly at the red and white ball in his hand. "Well done." He whispered in pride, "You done more than I should have asked for, take a nice long rest." And with that said he switched the Pokeball with another on his belt.

Conway pushed his glasses up his nose and chuckled, grasping another Pokeball of his own. "Heh, you may have the advantage right now Ash but I've created a sure fire winning strategy to beat you using this final Pokemon." He commented.

Ash blinked, a smirk stretching across his face. "Oh really?" The raven haired trainer asked.

"Yes." Conway replied, "You see, after all the battles I saw you compete in during your travels through this region I noticed you always prefer to use fast Pokemon – and thus I came up with a strategy to make all of your Pokemon's hard earned speed useless." He explained, glasses glinting in the sunlight as he gave off that creepy chuckle of his again.

Ash blinked again. What? Yeah, sure most of his Pokemon were all pretty fast in their own ways. But he didn't just use speedy Pokemon. If that was Conway's big strategy, then he had no chance in winning.

"Trainers, reveal you next Pokemon!" The referee ordered.

"Dusknoir, I choose you!" Was Conway's next Pokemon.

"Let's do this, Kingler!" While Kingler was Ash's.

In bursts of light, both Pokemon appeared. Dusknoir was a large, humanoid Cyclops like Pokemon that floated easily mid-air and had no legs. Its dark colored arms were thick and muscular and there was a pattern on the Pokemon's stomach that looked almost like a face.

While in response. Kingler was a many legged crustacean Pokemon, colored primarily orange and white. The Water-Type Pokemon had a large crown like pattern atop its head and had two large claws, one almost three times the size of the other.

"What!?" Conway shouted as he got a good look at Ash's next Pokemon. "This did not measure into my calculations at all!" And really, why should it have? According to Ashs' trainer page he hadn't even fought in an official battle with that Kingler of his in over two years. And even before then he used it rarely. He was so sure Ash would pick something like his Pikachu, Sceptile or even his recently evolved Infernape!

No matter! He shook his head, calming himself down. No need to panic, his strategy was just no longer needed. Even without it, Dusknoir had the power to help him win this match.

Up above Conway's final icon lit up with a portrait of Dusknoir, and Ash's second of Kingler. And Ash took that as his cue to jump straight into the action. "Kingler, Brine now!" He ordered quickly.

From his mouth, Kingler launched a powerful, spiralling stream of water.

Conway was nonplussed, "Teleport and then ThunderPunch!" He commanded in return.

Literally phasing away. Dusknoir evaded the jet of water and appeared at Kingler's side, unleashing a fist encased in sparking electricity.

"Crabhammer!" Ash countered as the blow struck.

"Koo...Keee!" Kingler grunted, taking the super effective attack like it was nothing and swinging his largest claw straight at Dusknoirs face, glowing bright with blinding power.

The blow missed as Dusknoir once again used Teleport to dodge, and re-appeared at Kingler's other side, unleashing another ThunderPunch.

Ash cursed as Kingler rolled with the momentum of the blow and used it to leap a safe distance away. Dusknoir merely watching intently with its red and yellow eye.

Dusknoir were usually quite slow Pokemon despite being Ghost-Types. Conway must have really put a lot of work into making Dusknoir master the technique to such a degree. And if his boasting about his strategy was anything to go by, Dusknoir had something else up its sleeve to render great speed virtually useless.

So in effect. Conway had made it so that Dusknoir would always be the fastest Pokemon in a battle, even without training to focus on speed. Ash had to hand it to him, he done a really great job in raising it.

But he still wasn't going to win this.

Switching Pokemon was useless for now. It would just turn out mostly the same, he'd have to lure Dusknoir in and get Kingler to counter at the very last moment.

Good thing he'd made sure Kingler had learned a way to make up for his lack of speed. He'd started the Pokemon he left at the Oak Ranch on a few special ways of training to go along with the usual training they got up to. And left them to it while he came to Sinnoh, so now it was time to put that training to good use.

Kingler was panting deeply, and there were two deep black scorch marks on either side of his body. But the Water-Type still look raring to go.

Too bad for Conway. Kingler was Dusknoir's worst possible match up.

"Brince, once more!" Ash said.

It was a testament to the amount of faith his Pokemon had in him, that Kingler didn't even blink at repeating an attack that failed so utterly before.

The jet of clear blue spiralling water was launched rapidly from Kingler's maw. Conway sighed, shaking his head in mock sadness, "Haven't you realized such 2 dimension attacks will not work on us?" He questioned in return to Ash and Kingler's actions.

He didn't even need to verbally give Dusknoir a command. The fully evolved Ghost-Type already knew what to do. Winking out of existence, it dodged the Brine attack and appeared right in front of Kingler fist cocked back, sparking with rampant electricity and ready to unload another devestating ThunderPunch straight in Kingler's face.

"Quash!" Was Ash's next, rapidly given command.

Before Dusknoir had time to unleash its attack, Kinglers eyes glowed a deep midnight black and Dusknoir was stopped In its tracks as miasmic energy clung all around its form.

Dusknoir was unable to even bring its arms up for a feeble defense as Kingler's massive claw came swinging down enhanced by the power of a CrabHammer attack and was smashed harshly atop the ghost Pokemon's head.

The force of the blow sent Dusknoir soaring back, still in its previous upright position. And it was only after the Crabhammer struck was Dusknoir's previous attack unleashed. With no control over its own body, Dusknoir threw a ThunderPunch attack that met nothing but air.

"What!?" Conway blurted in shock. What just happened? Why did Dusknoir freeze up? What technique did Ash pull out of his ass here? He didn't even hear the command from Ash over the roaring cheers of the crowd.

Until he figured out just what Ash pulled. It wasn't safe to send Dusknoir back in close with Teleport.

"Dusknoir, rapid fire Shadow Ball!" Conway ordered quickly. He couldn't let up on the offence, he had to keep the momentum going one way or the other and keep Ash from controlling the tempo of the battle. If that happened he may as well give up because he couldn't win.

Holding its hands up its head, Dusknoir formed a large sphere of purple miasmic energy crackling with barely constrained power. And then the sphere began to break down into dozens of small sized spheres and launched rapidly towards Kingler.

"Endure!" Ash commanded.

Kingler tensed and his body flashed red for a brief moment. One by one the barrage of tiny Shadow Balls slammed into Kingler, but the crab Pokemon stood its ground taking hit after hit with nary barely a grunt of pain.

* * *

Dawn winced as she watched Kingler be peppered by attack after attack, "I thought when Ash managed to stop Dusknoir teleporting around he had this match in the bag – but it seems Dusknoir is trained to handle any type of battle." The blue haired Coordinator commented.

"Speaking of that!" Barry broke in, "Just how did he do that anyway? The hell is Quash? That was a fine worthy ass-pull!" The hyperactive blonde ranted.

"Quash is a priority technique." Brock piped in, "It's an attack that stops an attacking Pokemon in its tracks and makes it unable to move until the user of Quash follows up with another attack – Ash followed up with a close range CrabHammer in order to knock Dusknoir away from Kingler so that it couldn't land its next attack when the effects of Quash faded." The slant eyed Pokemon Breeder explained.

"Gah!" Barry shouted, rubbing at his head rapidly "Hax! I call hax, somebody should fine him!" The blonde teen continued to shout vehemently.

Brock looked at the younger teen worriedly. Perhaps he was 'special'? It would explain a damn lot.

* * *

When the barrage finally came to an end, Kingler was still standing proudly. Though, there were multiple deep bruises forming on multiple places of the Pokemon's body.

Ash winced. Kingler wasn't gonna be fast enough to dodge, so he had him use Endure and take the hits as best he could. Still though, it wasn't pretty at all. He'd need to get Kingler to learn a defensive technique like Protect or something – because he was pretty much a sitting Psyduck for speedy attacks like that.

He had to end this soon. Kingler had the perfect attack to end this, but the problem was getting close. Conway wasn't going to risk getting in close for Kingler to use Quash and would most probably just pepper Kingler with speedy energy attacks from a far.

"CrabHammer!" The raven haired trainer finally decided on. It was a very versatile move, being good for both close combat and long distance.

"Koo Kee Koo Kee!" Kingler grunted, bringing his massive glowing claw down harshly upon the battlefield. A shockwave erupted from the force of the blow and a small narrow sphere of white energy erupted from the point of impact and roared across the field towards Dusknoir at breakneck speeds.

"CrabHammer and keep it up!" Ash ordered swiftly.

With speed belying his stature, Kingler rapidly began to smash his larger claw into the ground and shot off a rapid barrage of the small narrow energy spheres.

They were not as numerous as the Shadow Ball barrage by Dusknoir, but they were just as fast. Duskoir, like Kingler was far too slow to dodge such attacks and was forced to use Teleport and weave between the attacks in order to dodge.

It was as the barrage stopped and Dusknoir Teleported back in front of Conway that complications arose. While dodging the small orbs of energy, they had exploded on missing and kicked up a multitude of small dust clouds that shrouded the other side of the field from view.

And then a shadow descended and neither Conway nor Dusknoir reacted on time.

Black energy sparked, and Kingler came down like a bolt of lightning. Massive claw encased in black sparkling electricity, Kingler smashed a powerful Knock Off attack straight home on Dusknoir's cranium.

Ghost Pokemon like Dusknoir had the ability to phase through solid objects like walls and such. But in return for such an ability, it meant their physical bodies were rather weak in comparison with other types of Pokemon.

So it was no surprise, after taking the super effective strike from such a physically powerful Pokemon like Kingler – that Dusknoir was rendered unconscious and quite badly concussed before it even registered the pain of the attack.

And when the dust clouds cleared by the rapid fire CrabHammer barrage dissipated. Only Kingler was left standing above his fallen opponent. Larger claw raised, bellowing a victorious cry.

That was the only sound in the stadium, and when it finally ended it seemed to signal that it was the audiences' turn, as they erupted into a thundering applause that left ears ringing.

Up above and off to the side, on the massive wide screen. Conway's final Pokemon's icon darkened away before both the icons and Conway's portrait were knocked off the screen entirely and magnified on Ash's portrait as well as the two Pokemon he used to win the battle.

" _ **And there you have it folks**_! _ **In an extremely fast paced**_ , _**excitement pumping battle Ash has defeated Conway using only two of his own Pokemon**_." The MC declared, his voice ringing throughout the entire stadium once again, " _ **Give it up for these great Trainers and the great battle they had folks –**_ _**They sure made sure that the Preliminary Rounds of the Lily Of The Valley Conference started off with a bang**_!"

And as the crowd's roaring and cheering rose to new heights. Conway returned Dusknoir to its Pokeball, "You did well Dusknoir." He whispered to the Pokeball, "It was my fault we lost, I should have come up with a much better strategy to defeat Ash with." Shuckle, LickyLicky and Dusknoir they all done great. It was he who failed them in being arrogant enough to think he had so easily predicted the way Ash would battle.

His glasses glinted once again in the sunlight and he watched Ash happily embrace is Kingler and celebrate their win, "Next time, I'll make sure to predict every outcome and have a strategy ready for any one."

* * *

After congratulating and returning Kingler. Ash's eyes swept up throughout the stands of the stadium, searching for the familiar faces of his friends.

He found them, but he found someone else as well. Far up above even the stands, one cold eyed purple haired Trainer stood and met his eyes. Amber met black and a stare down commenced. It was a battle of wills, but ultimately Paul nodded his head in congratulations before breaking the stare off and leaving.

Ash watched him go. There was a fire raging in his chest. That guy who had the Darkrai? He meant nothing in the long run. Paul was his biggest rival here and that was that. Here, at the Sinnoh League he would be the one to walk away the winner and end their rivalry.

Ash would prove that he was the better trainer, and that abusing his Pokemon the way Paul did was not the way.

What is loved, will love in return. It was a simple concept, one that Paul just seemingly could not grasp. The cold purple haired Trainer had once accused Ash of training just like him, and it was true that they trained in similar ways but they were nothing alike in the long run. Paul ordered his Pokemon into any training he deemed fit, he did not reward them for their hard work and nor did he give them the praise they deserved for taking on such grueling training all for him.

And that was were they differed. Ash cared where Paul did not, and it would be the deciding factor here and the Lily Of The Valley Conference when they battled – he would win and Paul would lose, there was no doubt in his mind.

He was interrupted by a familiar blue haired girl wrapping her arms around his neck and hitching a ride on his back. Along with two more familiar figures in a small blue penguin Pokemon and small yellow rodent Pokemon leaping atop his shoulders, "Wooh you won!" Dawn shouted in delight. She pecked him on the cheek once again, "I guess the one I gave you last night made all the difference, so there's your reward Mr. Future Champion." She teased.

Ash felt his face flush slightly at the rather intimate action. They were still on the battlefield after all and the camera's were still recording. And Dawn had just jumped on his back and kissed him live on a show being broadcasted to the entire world.

Ugh...His mother better not have seen that. She would never leave him be if she got it into her head that Dawn was his girlfriend or something.

The raven haired trainer rolled his eyes, "C'mon then DeeDee let's go so I can take my Pokemon to the Pokemon Center." He replied, making his way over to the entrance carrying Dawn on his back all the way.

Dawn rapped him lightly on his hat covered head, "Oi, don't call me DeeDee!" She chided in annoyance, puffing her cheeks out and pouting.

Despite what she said a while back. It seemed her old nickname still got to her.


	16. World With Skill 5

At some point, Ash realized he'd more or less grown up.

He was resting comfortably against the thick and rigid bark of a particularly appealing tree, laying down on the branch not unlike how his old buddy Primeape used to when he wasn't punching everyone in sight out cold.

Leaning against his shoulder, his ever trustworthy Infernape slept away peacefully, while laying on a leg each and resting against his stomach were the small forms of Pikachu and Gible. Staraptor was roosting on a branch above them and Torterra slept peacefully at the foot of the tree they were laying in, the continent pokemon being far to big to sleep with him like he did when he was a spry little Turtwig.

Amber eyes watched as Buizel, one time after another massive pressurized blasts of water, grinding boulders, trees and anything else in the way of the attacks into fine powder.

It was a bit of a wonder to Ash, that Buizel hadn't evolved yet. He trained and pushed himself so hard, that it was a foregone conclusion that the stress should have forced him to evolve already.

Ash just assumed Buizel was holding out until he was ready, milking every last bit of strength out of his form right now before he evolved and that strength was multiplied.

His eyes leaving Buizel, Ash looked up into the night sky. It was true, at some point he'd gone and grown up.

Very rarely these days did he shout his pokemon's name in worry after taking a powerful attack. He knew his pokemon better than anybody else, he knew their strengths, weaknesses, and personalities right down to their very willpower.

Shouting in worry was seconds wasted that could be better used to counter attack or formulate a strategy. Every second counted.

It was a bit of a hypocritical thought, Ash knew. He often gave his pokemon rather long commands rather than short, and to the point.

And that was what was puzzling Ash. He'd noticed it a few months back, just how different he was from other trainers. Even before he had finished his orders, his pokemon had already put the plans into motion when they should by all rights still be trying to figure out how to follow the plan.

It was kind of like that Riolu he met a while back. He always somehow knew more or less what his pokemon wanted, or said and even un-voiced commands hidden to keep the opponent of guard were followed without Ash ever having to voice them.

Even now, as the majority of his pokemon slept and one trained he could pick up what was going on in their minds. Pikachu was dreaming of ketchup, as expected from the little closet glutton. Gible was dreaming both of flying through the air as a massive Garchomp and then biting him on the head, Ash cringed slightly at the thought those bites were bad enough as a little Gible he didn't want to feel a Garchomps maw around his skull.

Infernape was dreaming of a memory, of back when he was a Chimchar and Ash first started playing with him a few days after catching the little guy, one of the first times Ash had recalled feeling joy from the little chimp, at the time.

Staraptor was of gliding through the air at speeds that would make Pidgeot look like they were going in slow motion. Torterra wasn't really dreaming per say, just content to rest away, his mind relaxedly blank.

Buizel, well the over zealous little guy was filled with a sense of satisfaction as his muscles burned and his reserves of power ran incredibly low, yet still pushed himself further and further. Hydro Pump after Hydro Pump leaving his muzzle.

It was a bit of a mystery. A mystery that made Ash realize, that he'd more or less grown up. Even then, it didn't really bring much up in his mind, he'd been of age since he was ten and received his pokedex and trainer license.

He literally could have bought his own house, started his own buisness, drank alcohol, had sex or even gotten married the minue he'd got his license stating he was considered an adult then and there.

Granted, he was still ten at the time and there was little doubt if any girls were freaky enough to get hot and heavy with a ten year old in the first place, that he wouldn't be able to get ' _it up_ ' anyway.

Still, that was neither here nor there. It had just occurred really to Ash as he sat here, resting with his pokemon after another hard day of training that he had really grown up. He was 14 years old now, he was loaded with money due to his experiences as a trainer, he was fairly confident that this year he would be walking away the champion of a league tournament and he even had his eyes on a girl more or less in regards to Dawn.

But She was a whole other can of Magikarp he didn't want to get into right now. It would probably lead him to thinking about May in some form or another, and the urge to track down the grass haired sissy and punch his lights out.

"Nando." Ash tested the name with his mouth, his opponent for tomorrow and without a doubt it was going to be a good battle. Nando was a great trainer, having beat his earlier opponents with skill rather than raw ability and experience. Nando was a lot stronger than the average Coordinator hell he was stronger than even that sissy boy Drew due to his following both the path of Coordinator and Trainer.

Still, he had to rely on skill at this point because of the sheer fact that spending so much time in collecting gym badges and contest ribbons that his pokemon's power wasn't as high as it could be.

Still, Nando would be a good challenge. Far above any average shmuck that usually got kicked out this early in the league.

It was kind of interesting this time around, that other than the shmuck with the Machamp, Ash had been piared up with two strong trainers right after another in Conway and now Nando.

Ash was definitely interested in what pokemon Nando would send out against him tomorrow, hed never seen much of Nando's pokemon in previous meetings and he was eager to battle them.

Ash's thoughts on his battle tomorrow were cut off as he let out a loud yawn. Smacking his lips, Ash levelled a half lidded stare out at the lake edge where Buizel was practicing, "Don't stay up too late buddy, I'm using you tomorrow." He said out loud.

Buizel barely even glanced at him, just giving him a thumbs up and continuing to another volley of Hydro Pump.

Ash rolled his eyes as a massive tear was torn through the lake by the sheer power of the attack before the cannon of water lifted up into the air and exploded outwards, raining back down on the lake and filling up whatever water it lost.

"Well, g'night then." He said through another yawn, settling down a bit more beside Infernape to bask in the simian pokemon's innate body heat.

Buizel wouldn't stay up too long, just enough that he'd be tired out enough to sleep for a while. It was fine really, his next match wasn't till like four in the afternoon anyway and this was his private training area on the island, the leagues power psychic-type pokemon had the area shielded against people entering the area unless he'd already given them permission, like with Dawn and Brock.

* * *

Dawn scowled, Piplup hugged tightly against her chest as she and Brock shimmied their way through the crowded area and towards their seats, "That idiot has got some serious explaining to do." The blue haired girl growled through gritted teeth, "He didn't even come in last night, no doubt training with his pokemon non stop.

Seriously, she usually found Ash's single minded drive an endearing trait but she'd hardly been able to spend any time with him at all since they got to this island. Maddening, considering she'd not even come to terms with her own feelings on the boy yet, and he was making it all the harder for her to try and pursue them.

Still, last night really took the cake. Ash didn't even bother to return to their luxurious and spacious cabin, instead opting to camp out with his pokemon and get more training in.

Seriously, what sane person would do that?

Brock chuckled behind her, absently allowing his eyes to roam over a deep well of cleavage belonging to a shapely woman sitting on the isle below them as he shimmied across, "I wouldn't worry too much Dawn." The once gym leader told her, "He's been like this ever since he competed at the Indigo Plateau, constantly trying to squeeze just a little bit more out of his pokemon with each new battle."

"Bah!" Dawn scoffed, finally coming to a stop at their seats and plunking down on her own in a huff, "He could have at least came and spent some time with m-us, we've hardly spent any time with him at all this past month." She retorted, seamlessly flowing over her semi-stuttered mistake.

And wasn't that the truth? Dawn had at best, other than at times to eat, dragged Ash off for a couple hours every few days and Brock didn't even get that much since Dawn was more or less hogging Ash to herself for now.

Not that he minded at all, the tanned teen mused. With Dawn preoccupied trying to woo Ash, boy did she have her work cut out for her there, and Croagunk being left to relax at their cabin, Brock was free to explore the island to the fullest.

Checking out the babes, discussing pokemon with other possible breeders, checking out the babes, experimenting with new league sold pokefood, checking out the babes, taking in the sights, checking out the babes.

And did he ever mention checking out the babes? Because gloriously, Brock was free of Misty, Max and Croagunk, free to flirt to his hearts content

Brock loved the Lily of The Valley Conference more than he could ever describe. One hot older girl had even given him a kiss on the cheek and her Xtranceiver number.

Granted, he'd have to dip into his funds a bit to get an Xtranceiver of his own to even put the number to good use, but Brock was joyful nonetheless.

Even if he was gonna pay a small fortune just to chat with this one girl. Thank god that Ash was mainly the one supplying their group funding account from most of his winnings through this Sinnoh journey, he didnt get paid quite as much yet as a breeder since he wasn't an official Gym Leader any more.

"No need to worry, Dawn." Brock commented with a cheerful grin, sitting down beside her. "Come the end of this conference Ash will have no set plans and you can work your charm on him till your hearts content." He ribbed her teasingly, slightly jabbing his elbow against her arm in a joking manner.

Cheeks flushing a deep red, Dawn gave a scoff and looked away from the older teen, intent on keeping her eyes on the battlefield down below them where soon Ash and Nando would be battling it out. "Not like I'll need more than the one chance." Dawn couldn't help but fire back at him, "Unlike you who according to Ash has been failing repeatedly since you started tagging along with hm."

Brock merely laughed at the insult towards his flirting skills. "Any man who doesn't learn how to laugh at rejection is completely worthless as a man."

Dawn snorted, eyeing him out of the corner of one eye, "That was almost profound Brock." She replied with a giggle, "Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Brock shook his head in amusement, "It's a man's romance." He retorted, chest puffing out in manly pride, "You'll understand if you ever manage to get out of that friend zone Ash stuck you in." He continued, mock patronizingly.

Dawn actually found herserlf gaping a bit at that, it flew right over her head. ' _What the hell is a man's romance_?'

* * *

Ash found himself relaxing after arriving to his assigned locker room.

Pikachu sat contently on his lap as he lay on one of the benches, idly scratching the little pokemon's ears.

"Chaa.." Pikachu rumbled in content.

As always, he felt no pre-battle jitters at all. Ash wasn't sure what it was, but he'd never felt nervous battling in front of such massive crowds.

They were at very best, ego-boosting spectators and at worst background noise. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Still, with so much free time before his match Ash's thoughts finally drifted to a topic they'd highlighted on ever since he'd called Professor Oak.

Mega Evolution, huh?

It sounded so cool. The young trainer, hadn't been able to put much research into the topic. It was a newly discovered phenomenon...or, re-discovered as it were.

Apparently, from what little Ash understood of the techno-babble all the scientists were gushing out with, Mega Evolution was the act of a closely bonded pair of pokemon and trainer uniting to draw upon the primal power hidden within the pokemon and allow that pokemon to take on the form its species took in ancient times when both humanity and pokemon as a whole were a lot stronger than they were today.

It went on to say that an unknown energy was taken from the trainer to power the evolution. Scientists all around the world were completely stupefied by the discovery of the energy and not one had figured out just what it was.

Ash knew though. He bet the likes of Lance and Cynthia knew as well and were keeping tight-lipped on the subject.

It was aura.

' _It explained a lot_.' Ash mused. When he realized the energy they were raving about was aura, a lot of the pieces fell into place. Very few people from what he had picked up, ever had enough aura to even subconsciously use. Like only one in a million people even had enough aura to match a baby Weedle, never mind something like a Charizard.

Pokemon had it in abundance, it was why they could grow so powerful and had such mystical powers.

This was why so few people had been able to perform Mega Evolution no matter their bond with their pokemon. The only known people that could perform it were Lance, Cynthia, Steven and Diantha.

All champions, they stood head and shoulders above even the Elite Four who served below them. They were prodigies amongst prodigies and in crowds would probably shine like beacons to any who could sense aura.

There was a knock at his door.

Ash smirked as he stood up, gently laying the now snoozing Pikachu on the bench and headed towards the door.

According to three sources in Lucario, Riley and Riolu he had massive wells of aura. Enough, in Lucario's own words to rival Sir Aaron, possibly the most famous and powerful Aura Guardian of all time.

He pulled the door open and his smirk dimmed to a smile, "Hey Nando, what's up?" He said as soon as he caught sight of the older, long haired teen.

Ash had to admit, with his thoughts on Sir Aaron that Nando really pulled off the bard look well. What with the black riding boots, immaculate brown pants, fedora, eye catching green traveller's cloak and golden mew insignia harp.

If this was a few hundred years back, he'd totally get Nando to be his personal bard and spread stories of his adventures.

"Ash, my friend." Nando greeted with a soft smile and a nod. "I thought I would take this small period between our battle to wish you the best of luck." He continued, bringing up his free hand and holding it out towards the younger trainer.

And he was such a nice guy too, it was almost impossible really to not get along with Nando.

Ash took the hand in his own, firmly gripping it as they shook hands. He was un-surprised to find that Nando had both a firm handshake and calloused palms. Nando, while even more of a pretty boy than Drew, wasn't a pampered sissy boy like the grass haired twit.

"Thanks, you as well buddy." Ash replied, ridding himself of thoughts on the spineless coordinator before they soured his conversation with an actual friend.

A smirk replaced his smile once again as the amber eyed teen continued, "Who would have thought way back when I encouraged you to take on both Contests and Gym Battles that we'd be battling each other so early in the conference?" Ash pointed out, amusing colouring his voice.

Nando chuckled, and Ash had to admire how he made even his chuckles sound dignified, "Indeed my young friend." He replied jovially, "Fate is a fickle mistress at times, but let it not be said that she does not partake in irony when the needs arises."

Ash's smirk turned challenging, "I hope you dont mind." He commented, "But even though you're a friend, I plan to win this entire tournament so I don't plan on going easy on you."

Nando chuckled that both dignified and musical chuckle of his again, "T'would be a shame if you did." He replied, "I have been eagerly awaiting the chance to test myself against a veteran trainer of your calibur for many moons now."

Now, anyone else who talked like that would be damn annoying. But Nando managed to make his olden days speech pattern sound endearing. Ash had to admit, it was a real talent.

"I'll make sure not to disappoint then." Was his retort.

"Good, good!" Nando clapped his hands once, twirling his harp expertly into position, "A poem, If you please? To commemorate our upcoming battle." He questioned.

"Fire away, big guy." Ash replied, leaning idly on the door frame and eyeing him with interest.

"It shant be long, till we hear the gong.

Good luck my friend, for one it's the end.

Winner, your blade cuts the string, now tidings you bring

It awaits us, oh battlefield, ending you yield."

Ash snorted as the poem came to an end. "Heh." He laughed a bit, amber eyes alight with amusement. "That's pretty witty of you." He commented.

Nando smiled back. It was a smile that would have the fan girls in the stands screaming in glee. Ash thanked Arceus only staff and competitors were allowed at this point. "I thought so." He replied, voice filled with amusement of his own.

Turning on his heel, Nando left Ash with one last parting comment. "Again, good luck to you my young friend, I will be giving this battle everything I've got and hope to have a memorable experience battling you."

Ash watched him walk down the empty hallway, a smirk still playing on his lips. "Don't worry bud." He said to himself, "I'll make sure this is a battle you never forget."

And with that said, he entered his own locker room again, shutting the door behind him. There was still a good twenty or so minutes until his battle with Nando began, and he planned to get some more relaxation in while he waited.

* * *

There was a general uproar from the crowd as both competitors were elevated up onto their positions on the battlefield

" _Introducing, on the green side folks, the ever elegant Nando!_ " The voice of the MC reverberated throughout the stadium, ringing above even the roars of the crowd.

As Nando was introduced, the crowd erupted into a thunderous clash of voices. From cheers, to jeers and Ash quirked an eyebrow in an amusement when he heard one fan, a man at that scream his voice hoarse shouting, "I love you Nando!"

Nando was a good sport about it all, bowing to the crowd and raising the hand that wasn't holding his harp up in appreciation for their support, jeers and all.

" _And on the red side..."_ The MC continued, " _You know him, you love him, he's unrelenting when chasing victory, I present to you all folks...Ash Ketchum_!"

Once again the combined voices of the crowd blended together to form a harsh cacophony of voices. If Ash wasn't so used to battling in front of large crowds, it may have given him a headache.

Still, he noticed that he got a lot more jeers from the crowd than Nando. Damn home turf advantage, he should have expected it mind you what with the intense rivalry that used to exist between Kanto and Sinnoh.

Seriously, who even cared what pokemon came first between Arceus and Mew anyway?

"Red trainer has first attack." The referee standing off to the side of the battlefied stated.

Ash nodded, gripping a pokeball in one hand loosely.

Raising his voice, the referee continued, "Trainers, reveal your pokemon!" He shouted, swishing his two flags.

In twin bursts of silvery white light, both Ash and Nando released their pokemon.

"Let's do it Gible!" Ash called out.

At the same time, Nando expressed loudly, "Alright Armaldo, let's go!"

When the light died down, both pokemon stood staring each other down. Gible, short and squat yet undeniably powerful and Armaldo, massive and covered in bony armored plats with sharpened claws and with enough mass to qualify as a behemoth in the same league as an Aggron or Rhydon.

Ash idly noticed the image of Gible appearing under his own image on the scoreboard, but ignored it in favour of snapping his fingers and going straight for the win, "Let's go Gible! Dragon Pulse, then follow it with Rock Smash!"

Before he'd even finished stating his command, Gible had rapidly formed the teal coloured sphere of draconian power and launched it towards Armaldo.

"Armaldo, Protect!" Nando shouted quickly as the sphere of power shot across the battlefield in all the time it took to blink.

A protective barrier of green energy surrounded Armaldo just in time to intercept the attack. The sphere hit the barrier and pushed against it mightily, causing thhe defensive technique to waver slightly but hold strong.

That is, until Gible was suddenly behind the attack itself and launching his small shining fist forward with all the force the small dragon-type could muster.

The shield buckled, but didn't fall. But that was fine as well, because the force behind the two attacks opened up a small hole that was just big enough for Gible to push through, Dragon Pulse attack clasped firmly in his Rock Smash enhanced hand.

Armaldo had no time to react, only managing to drop its barrier and stumble back a few steps before Gible was on top of it, smashing the attack straight into its chest.

Then every piece of energy within the now volatile attack as the fighting-type energy of Rock Smash seeped into the attack exploded outwards in a cone around Armaldo.

The force behind the explosion was enough that Gible ended up being sent soaring right back towards Ash's side of the field, landing nimble on his small stubby legs.

" _Amazing, not even twenty seconds into the battle and already Ash and Gible have scored a devastating combination attack_!"

Ash frowned, but didn't pause for even a moment. "Don't let up, Draco Meteor and don't give it a chance to recover!" He barked hastily.

Gible nodded idly, bright orange light beginning to outline his form and a massive sphere beginning to grow and glow within the confines of his wide throat.

Ash was a tad worried. Nando hadn't even called out in alarm, and he hadn't even heard that Armaldo give a grunt of pain, never mind a shout.

That was worrying in of itself. Dragon Smash, as he'd dubbed that combination move combined the power of Dragon Pulse, with force from being hit with Rock Smash, powered straight into the opponent and being forced to detonated completely around the opponent due to the attack becoming volatile with all the fighting-type energy being pumped into it.

Not even Torterra, one of the most defensive pokemon he had, possible the most right behind Snorlax could take it without being dealt quite a bit of damage.

Gible cocked his head back, sphere burning at the back of his throat and ready to fire within a few seconds at most. But before the little dragon could shoot his attack into the air, he was blind sided by a massive jet of water that tore through the cloud of smoke and smashed into Gible's tiny form and punished him downwards into the ground.

Ash's eyes widened a fraction as the water receded to reveal Armaldo pinning Gible with one claw, while the other reared back and began to shine with a metallic gleam.

Metal Claw!

"Flamethrower!" Ash ordered quickly, growling in agitation. He'd been hoping to keep this attack hidden for a bit to use as a trump card later, yet here it was being forced out within seconds!

Gible screamed, opening his mouth as wide as possible as he lay pinned to the ground. White hot flames burst forth, roaring forward in a searing torrent of orange and red

The flames were rent asunder as the Metal Claw was raked through the river of flames. It did make Armaldo' grip on Gible to slacken enough for him to wriggle free though, the small dragon-type bouncing backwards out of the ancient pokemon's reach.

"Dig!" Ash shouted urgently as the little pokemon landed, sighing in relief as he saw his pokemon immediately burrow underground to safety.

Ash's mind ran a mile a minute trying to think of a strategy here. Armaldo had insane defensive powers, evidenced by the fact that from what Ash could see, it had taken very little damage from Dragon Smash and was only mildly bruised at best and a little scuffed up. It had the pure physical strength advantage, it had the height and reach advantage, hell it even had the speed advantage with that Aqua Jet it showed earlier.

' _Think Ketchum, think_!' The amber eyed trainer ranted to himself internally.

His hastily built plans were rent asunder themselves by Nando speaking up, "Armaldo, Earth Power if you please." He commanded, was even and as pleasant as ever.

Ash's eyes widened in disbelief, and before he could even shout a warning Armaldo stomped its foot and a massive rift formed across the field glowing with orange light.

Gible squawked in disbelief, eyes bugged out in horror as he shot up into the air in front of Armaldo. "Brick Break, then Mega Kick." Nando was quick to follow up.

"Rock Smash, block it!" Ash ordered quickly.

Glowing white claw clashed with glowing white claw as Brick Break and Rock Smash met in mid air, a small shock wave blasting throughout the arena from the force of the two attacks clashing.

Then Armaldo seemingly defied gravity and jumped backwards slightly and falling back, coming up from the legs and volleying Gible straight across the face with a massive, silvery white foot.

Ash grimaced as his pokemon crash landed in front of him, bruised and beaten, hell one of Gible's eyes were even swollen shut.

" _Ketchum started off strong folks! But it looks like Nando is the one controlling the flow of this battle and Armaldo is completely decimating Gible! How will Ketchum come back from this?_ "

Ash nearly growled in anger, Arceus above man that guy was just begging to get a jab to the face. "C'mon Gible, I know you can do it." He praised the little pokemon as he struggled to stand.

Then purpled light it up the area and Ash turned, like a Deerling caught in headlights and stared in near horror at the sight of a sphere of menacing purple energy being compressed in Armaldo's mouth.

Shit man! A Hyper Beam attack seriously!? Nando was so damn soft spoken Ash didn't even hear him over the crowd.

"It's do or die Ketchum!" Ash gnashed his teeth, relenting. The attack was fired. A massive dark purple, so dark it was nearly black beam of power and Ash raised his arm, pokeball in hand and made to return his pokemon.

He failed.

Bright light erupted in front of him, nearly blinding him and forcing him to look way, "Gah!" He cried as squinted his eyes in attempt to lessen the blinding glare.

Then all of a sudden there was no light. No blinding light, nor consuming purple darkness.

Ash's eyes widened. "No way!" He breathed as his eyes took in the sight in front of him. Standing there proudly, with glowing talons spread out wide was a Gabite.

" _Well would you look a that folks! Just when it looked like the fat lady was about to sing, Gible evolved into a menacing Gabite! Will this be enough for Ketchum to secure the win?_ "

Not only that Ash realized as he saw the flakes of purple energy glittering in the air, but Gabite had also empowered his talons with Rock Smash and cut straight through the Hyper Beam like paper.

Ash smirked, "Way to go Gabite!" He shouted in glee, punching a hand forward. "But the battle isn't over yet."

Amber eyes caught sight of blue flames licking at Gabite's feet as he was about to order another Dragon Smash combination and his smirk widened, "Let's do this with your newest attack, Dragon Rush!" He commanded.

Gabite shot off like a bullet, sprinting forward and then shooting into the air and gliding forward like a jet plane. Blue flames erupted all around Gabite's form, cloaking the newly evolved pokemon in a serpentine, yet draconian aura of power.

Within the time it took to blink, there was impact. A massive cloud of smoke was kicked up and Ash was amused to find the Referee landing on his ass.

A sense of euphoria washed over Ash as he heard the strangled scream of pain coming from what was un-mistakenly Armaldo within the cloud.

The smoke parted. Joy turned to horror.

Armaldo stood, tall and proud. Armoured plates in shambles, leaking purple ichor from multiple areas and bruised deeply around the chest region.

Gabite was crushed between its claws, struggling with all his might against being tightly pinned against Armaldo's chest.

Ash jumped right on the chance that was presented. "Flamethrower, again!" He commanded sharply, clenching his hands tightly into fists.

Gabite howled, tilting his head up and flames licking at the back of his throat.

Denial, in the form of Nando was quick though. "Headbutt!" The bard quickly countered.

With a roar, Armaldo smashed its armoured head straight against Gabite's and forced the smaller pokemon to cry out in agony, skull rattled.

"Hyper Beam, once again if you please!" Nando was quick to follow up.

Ash found himself being unable to do much more than stare as Armaldo tossed Gabite into the air and fired a hastily formed Hyper Beam right at his pokemon at point blank range.

The battlefield shook mightily once again, and Ash sighed as Gabite slid to a stop a few feet in front of him. Bruised, beaten, burned and more but Ash found himself smiling with pride.

"Return." He said, recalling his pokemon in a beam of red. Closing his eyes, he held the pokeball up to his lips and whispered, "Thanks for all your hard work Gabite, you've made me really proud to be your trainer."

Up above, Gabite's newly updated picture on the scoreboard dimmed.

" _With unstoppable power, Nando and Armaldo completely dominate the first match of the battle and show us all that they're here to play keeps and they'll go through anyone standing in their way! The question is folks, can Ketchum step up to the plate and take back the win for himself? Only time will tell._ "

Ash ignored the MC's inane babbling. Paying attention to the crap he spewed would no doubt just make him angry, instead Ash quickly and methodically constructed his plan of action.

Nando may have caught him off guard with his behemoth of an Armaldo, but Gabite despite taking a massive beating had still managed to deal quite a bit of damage with the attacks he'd landed.

He switched Gabite's pokeball with his next pokemon's just in time fo the referee to point his red flag at Ash, "Red trainer, release your next pokemon." He stated evently.

Gripping the pokebal tightly for a moment, he then tossed it up and casually released the pokemon inside, "It's up to you now..."

With a burst of silvery white energy, the pokemon was revealed and Ash smirked as he idly caught the pokeball when it came back down. "There's no way they can stop you!" He declared, complete confidence in his voice.


	17. World With Skill 6

Dawn had to withhold a wince as Ash brought back his newly evolved Gabite. Her eyes took in Nando's Armaldo, marvelling at the beating it had taken but stood proud, seemingly not bothered in the least at its injuries, "That was intense," the blue haired girl breathed out softly, "I've never seen Nando battle like that before, I had no idea his pokemon could battle with that kind of ferocity."

Brock beside her nodded, his mouth set in a fine line, "Nando's usual battle style revolves around elegant movement and music based attacks like Sing and Bug Buzz," the breeder stated, "He knew Ash had already seen his battle style before and most likely already had a counter prepared for those kinds of situations." he continued.

Dawn turned to him, a puzzled look on her face, "That doesn't explain how he overwhelmed Gabite like Armaldo did. Hell, any average pokemon would have went down with ease after taking Ash's Dragon Smash combo." she said.

Brock nodded, "I think Armaldo was specifically trained to take on trainers like Ash." he replied.

Confusion coloured Dawn's eyes, "What do you mean, trainers like Ash?" the coordinator asked.

"I mean that..Ash isn't the most patient guy out there," Brock said in return, nodding down at the trainer in question, "Ash isn't the type to sit and wait for his opponent to come to him, that's why Flint's battle style didn't mesh well with him. He prefers to take off fast and strong and bring the fight to his opponent." he explained.

"Ah!" Dawn exclaimed, nodding her head in a knowing manner as the puzzles fell into place for her, "So what you mean is; Nando instead of training Armaldo to counter and use his opponents attacks against them like Flint, trained Armaldo to take a heavy amount of damage so that they could exploit the small lull between their opponents attacks, right?" the girl asked

"Yes," Brock replied, "More than that though, not only can that Armaldo take a hell of a beating, it's a physical powerhouse as well on top of that," he began, "If it wasn't the sheer momentum behind the two powerful attacks Gabite did connect with would have opened enough space for Gabite to escape Armaldo's return attacks."

Not only that, but even as a little Gible, Gabite was a monster in the making as well. Physically speaking, it was even stronger than Buizel and Infernape as a Gible and that was saying something considering the amount of special training Ash had given those two pokemon to improve their physical abilities. Taking into account that Pikachu was physically strong enough through Ash's training to toss a Milotic and it opened up some rather scary possibilities when one remembered that Ash had only had Gible for around two months.

Gabite definitely lived up to the hype that was given to all dragon-type pokemon. Especially those of the pseudo-lines. But, for Gabite to be overpowered so easily...it really told Brock how much of an exceptionally trained _monster_ that Armaldo was.

Nando, had beaten Ash at his own game. Physical strength and durability were two aspects of battle every single one of Ash's pokemon were trained to excel in extensively. From Pikachu tossing Milotic's, to Swellow stopping a Donphan in a full powered Rollout attack with just its feet and even Infernape newly after evolving holding up a massive and entirely metal robot that had to weigh at least a few tons with ease.

Brock had to admit...he was impressed. Not even Paul had managed to beat Ash at his own game and considering Paul at times seemed like a more ruthless mirror image of Ash, it said a lot. But still, Nando battling down there was like an entirely different person from when he faced Zoey at the Grand Festival.

Without a doubt…, "If he weren't so concerned about giving a fabulous show...he would have destroyed Zoey," Brock admitted, catching Dawn's attention.

The bluenette's eyes widened, "Really?" She breathed, "I mean I know what you said before about trainers and coordinators was right, but is there really that big of a gap?" she fretted. She didn't like the idea, who would? It meant if an accomplished trainer decided to take up contests, they'd have a good chance of demolishing pure coordinators with ease.

It just didn't sit right with her, that the only reason Nando wasn't the top coordinator in Sinnoh right now was because he was more inclined to showing the elegance of his pokemon instead of absolutely destroying the opposition with pure power like he was now against Ash.

Brock merely nodded, "The Nando right now is on a completely different level from the one we saw at the Grand Festival," he replied, "If he didn't care about showing off his pokemon, he would have taken Zoey down before she even knew what was going on."

Dawn noticed something then. He mentioned Zoey, but he made no mention of her, "What about me?" she decided on asking, giving Brock a curious look.

Brock smirked, raising a hand he pointed down at the battlefield below, "Nando may have caught Ash off guard with his sudden change in battle style," he said in return, "But this is still Ash's game Nando is playing and Gabite is still without a doubt Ash's weakest pokemon. Dragon-type, or not."

The breeder patted the blue haired girls head softly, a fond smile overtaking his smirk, "And you've been playing Ash's game for a while now, haven't you Dawn?" he asked, "It's how he taught you after all."

Dawn's eyes widened and she turned just in time to see Ash reveal his next pokemon, a pokemon she knew all too well. A grin of her own came upon her face, "Indeed he did," she whispered.

* * *

Up above, at the very top of the stadium and leaning over one of the railings on the walkway, a stern faced youth stared down at the battlefield, "Huh, now that's interesting." Paul commented, an amused glint in his eyes.

His eyes set on his rival, testing the word slightly in his mouth before he turned his attention to his rival's opponent. A snort left him, "More a coordinator at heart than a trainer, aren't you?" He mused, "You shoulda wore him down first then brought out the Armaldo last, then you might have actually had a chance at winning." the purple haired trainer said aloud.

Snorting, Paul kicked off the railing and turned on his heel to leave, "I've seen enough here," he said aloud as he walked in the direction of the exit, "I already know how this is going to end." with that said, he disappeared into the darkness of the exit tunnel.

* * *

Over in the Johto region, gathered within one of the rooms at the pokemon centre in Olivine City, four coordinators had their eyes glued to the screen.

Drew whistled in apparent amazement, "Damn," he started, "Ketchum is getting destroyed out there." he continued, a smirk that just oozed satisfaction spreading across his face.

He received a smack on the shoulder that forced him to withhold a wince, instead he merely glared at the offender, "Shut up," Solidad told him, an amused smile on her own pretty face, "I don't need to hear you getting into a pissing contest with Ash when he isn't even here."

Over by the wall, leaning on it with his arms crossed and clad in his belly button bearing Cacturne suit, Harley let loose a snort, "Please honey," he said, his voice cattily feminine, "We all know how any battle between Drew and lover boy would turn out." he told her with a girlish giggle, eyes closed in utter delight at the jab aimed at the green haired coordinator.

Drew growled, smacking Solidad's hand from his shoulder harshly, his eyes glancing over the fourth of their little group with her eyes still glued to the television, "Please, I could take him,"he replied with another low growl, "I already did before, didn't I?"

Another snort, this time coming from the girl still watching the television, "Yeah, cuz' beating the Tailow he'd had for less than a month with your starter pokemon that you yourself had for over a year is such a big accomplishment," May replied, not even bothering to take her eyes off the screen as she watched Ash return his downed Gabite.

His next choice of pokemon was familiar to her. A pokemon she'd seen him battle quite well with in the past. A pokemon that actually had a connection to a special moment she had in her life that she shared with the trainer battling on screen right now.

Drew clenched his fist. Plenty of guys flirted with May during their travels of Johto, she was a pretty and accomplished girl that had all the makings of a beautiful woman, but none of them could ever get on his nerves the way Ketchum did. He and that guy could never get along, for one he was an arrogant trainer that relied purely on brute power.

That Gabite of his just proved his point. Of course when Ketchum caught a dragon it would be one of the monsters of the type, not an elegant specimen like his own Flygon.

For another, Ketchum apparently didn't like the way he bagged on the battle style the trainer had taught May. It had been an underlying problem since they first met, and a problem that almost had them coming to blows when Drew had told her that the battle style was what held her back from winning the Kanto Grand Festival.

Not of his own violation, thank you very much. Drew was an elegant, classy gentleman unlike that brute of a trainer. Plus, even if he didn't like it he knew his chances of taking Ketchum on physically were drastically low. He was actually kind of disappointed the breeder had with the help of that Sceptile kept Ketchum from giving him a beating.

He could have both convinced May that he was a violent brute and possibly got charges placed on the trainer, what was a little physical pain for that kind of reward? Still, Ketchum pissed him off. It was always Ash did this, or Ash would do that. It was utterly maddening to get the brute out of May's thought process.

It made helping her create a new coordinator specific battle style quite the task. So what if the last two contest's they'd both been in he'd beaten her without much of a challenge? Creating a new style from scratch took time, it wasn't his fault. The fact she won her first three ribbons with Ketchum's style meant nothing.

Ketchum's style was holding her back from her full potential, that Drew fully believed.

Drew shook his head, he hated thinking about Ketchum, "If he's so _greeeaaat_ ," Drew made sure to draw the word great out mockingly and with a roll of his eyes, "Just why did he get his ass handed to him right there?" the green haired coordinator challenged.

May turned to him, a frown on her face, "The first thing Ash taught me about battling," she began, "Was that the first move is most often a feint, he wouldn't battle straight forward like that with the same pattern without a reason."

Drew rolled his eyes at her, "And just why would you think that?" he questioned, "Ketchum's a brute, powers all he has going for him, he's like a talking Slaking more than anything else from what I've seen." he continued.

A smirk lit up his face, "He certainly smells like one," he added with a chuckle.

May decided to ignore the little jabs at Ash, she'd never be able to understand the hate both Ash and Drew held for each other. "Because," she decided on replying, blue eyes set with certainty, "I know how Ash battles better than anybody save maybe Brock and Max, he did teach me how to battle in the first place after all." she replied, her voice set and confident.

A high pitched, girlish squeal resounded from off to the side and Harley threw himself forward wrapping his arms around May's neck and leaning on her back, "Look at you, all resolute and stuff when you're defending lover boy's skill," the purple haired coordinator giggled, "What do you think of his new bieau though? Y'know the one we saw kiss him in the highlights of his last battle and beat you down at the Wallace Cup?" His giggle continued, though turned far more sinister and malicious as he went on.

A shudder went down May's spine, but she fought it off with a growl and shouldered Harley back off her, "Shut up!" She shouted, a sudden anger overcoming her, "She was only congratulating him on winning, nothing else! And the only reason she won was because she was constantly using Ash's battle style and I….and I wasn't….." May started off shouting her defense, though near the end her voice got much lower and tapered off as what she said caught up with her.

She still only had three ribbons after all. The exact same amount she had when she last saw Ash.

Harley launched himself back, collapsing onto the couch in the room with delighted, almost evil sounding laughter. Even Solidad who'd kept quiet since she gave her input let out a small snort herself. Drew? Drew growled, storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him, "I'm going to train!" he shouted as he left.

May...she just stared at the screen blankly as the battle renewed with vigor.

* * *

"Let's go!" Ash shouted as his pokemon appeared before him. Arms crossed, a smirk on his face and

unshakable confidence blazing in his eyes, "We'll go with one of our new field combo's, use Rain Dance and Hidden Power!" the raven haired trainer commanded.

"Bui bui!" Buizel nodded, closing his eyes in concentration for but a moment before they snapped open once again. In one paw, a sphere of swirling crystalline water formed. In the other, an orb of crackling lightning vibrated with power. Then, with a grunt Buizel smashed them together and spun on his heel.

Rapidly closing the distance between them, Armaldo had its eyes set on Buizel as it blitzed towards the water-type encased within the aura of water brought upon by Aqua Jet. So, Buizel tossed the now two conjoined orbs at the approaching Armaldo.

The now one orb, darkened to the point where it was nearly grey in colour and letting loose jagged lances of lightning exploded before it even got halfway towards the approaching fossil pokemon.

The Armaldo let loose a wail of pain as a literal wave of water and lightning exploded outwards, washing over it and sweeping it away in a wave of sparking water. While above the battlefield, ominous dark clouds that rumbled mightily began to gather.

Rain began to fall but Nando paid it to heed, his eyes were set upon the sparking wave that carried his pokemon towards him, threatening to swallow him with Armaldo. The referee had already bailed ship as it were and jumped within the safety barrier provided for the referee's of each league battle.

"Hyper Beam, blow it away," the bard commanded sharply, "Let the current and momentum carry you back, gain as much distance as possible."

In an instant, an orb of darkness was compressed within Armaldo's maw. A second later it was fired in a massive, widespread beam of crackling black and purple energy, the sure sign of their training to master the attack. Hyper Beam was an attack that became darker in colour the more a pokemon truly began to master it.

The beam tore through the wave with ease, bisecting it and freeing Armaldo form the electrifying currents. Turning its head, Armaldo angled the beam so that it shot towards the Buizel standing at the opposite side of the battlefield, all the while the power behind the attack pushed Armaldo further and further back.

The Buizel didn't even attempt have time to dodge. The Hyper Beam homed in on it in the blink of an eye and washed over the unprepared water-type within a second.

Only, the attack never hit. Instead, the massive beam tore right through Buizel's form as if it wasn't even there, narrowly missed its trainer Ash and then hit the psychic barrier protecting the audience and exploded outwards, black and purple energy washing out over the barrier like spilling paint.

"What!?" Nando breathed in shock as the image of Buizel faded, leaving nothing but a wide hole underneath its previous position. Double Team! He'd not even seen the switch. That meant….!

His head whipped towards his pokemon sharply, but before he could let loose with another command, not that it would help with his pokemon briefly immobilized to recharge form the powerful attack it just fired. Buizel erupted from the ground right in front of Armaldo, shooting up a few feet into the air and delivered a powerful overhead, glowing blue chop right dead centre on Armaldo's head.

The ground beneath Armaldo cratered from the force of what Nando realized was a Brick Break attack. His breath hitched, but Nando didn't allow himself to panic. He'd trained Armaldo to take more punishment than any pokemon should be capable of taking, this was pushing it but Armaldo hadn't fallen even from that powerful blow.

"X-"

"Hydro Pump!"Ash suddenly shouted, making his presence known once again.

Nando was cut off before he could even form his command. Rolling mid-air, Buizel got behind Armaldo and within an instant, expelled a massive stream of highly condensed water that ploughed into Armaldo with all the force of a cannon.

Armaldo hit the dirt face first, the ground beneath it cratering deeper and deeper as the attack kept up, pushing it deeper and deeper into the very ground itself. All the while, Armaldo bellowed in pain...until it fell silent.

Only then did the powerful water attack cease, Buizel allowing the power behind the attack to propel itself back towards the safety of Ash's side of the battlefield. Landing nimbly, arms crossed and another confident self-assured smirk plastered across its face.

Nando sighed, casting a soft eye towards his pokemon that lay utterly defeated within a crater made by its own body. With pride, he raised up his pokeball and returned the pokemon within it. He touched the pokeball to his forehead, a smile on his face, "Thank you for your hard work my friend." He whispered to the pokeball before proceeding to switch it with another.

The referee chose that moment to reveal his attendance once again, bringing attention to him as he stood behind the psychic barrier, "Armaldo is unable to battle and Buizel is the winner!" he declared, "Green Trainer please release your second pokemon!"

The MC wasn't far behind him either, " _Well folks, it seems Nando didn't keep his lead for long, a beautiful feint was made by Ketchum with two separate combinations, combining Rain Dance with an electric-type Hidden Power. And Double Team with Dig._ " he declared, " _Then, with the trap set Ketchum and Buizel got in close and finished the battle in the blink of an eye with an up close Brick Break followed by a devastatingly powerful Hydro Pump, I tell you folks I wouldn't like to be hit with any of those attacks."_

Nando rolled his eyes, the MC made such a sport out of their battle that it left a bad taste in his mouth. While indeed battling was seen as a sport nowadays, to Nando it was just like a contest, where a trainer showed their passion, their dreams and the love they'd raised their pokemon with. To cheapen it the way the MC did was like a stain upon each and every trainer here's honour.

He shook his head, ridding him of his thoughts on the matter. Instead, he turned his eye to his young friend who stood as his opponent today, "It seems that while I caught you off guard with Armaldo's power," he began, "It clearly wasn't enough to defeat you."

Ash merely smirked at him, "It was a good plan." the raven haired youth conceded, "You played me at my own game, you even actually beat down Gabite and threw me off a little, but it's still my game after all."

Nando smiled, "Indeed it seems so," he replied, "To be perfectly honest, I expected after bringing down Gabite to at least wear your next pokemon down a little bit, but it seems you turned the tables on me rather spectacularly." the bard mused.

With a chuckle, Ash thumbed his nose, "I panicked in that one moment you overwhelmed me, and it was enough for you to take the lead," he admitted, "But I'll tell you this now, I won't lose another pokemon in this battle." the amber eyed trainer boasted, his voice resolute in his confidence that Nando would not beat another of his pokemon.

Nando lifted one eyebrow in question, "Hmhmhm, we shall see my young friend," he replied with his own chuckle, "We shall see."

With that, Nando clicked the pokeball in his hand and released his next pokemon. He needed to get rid of that rain cloud above them first of all, there was no telling what kind of effects that thing had, especially seeing as he could still see that while it was raining sparks of electricity were running through the dark cloud.

Plus, his cloak was getting absolutely soaked. Not to mention his hair, it took quite a while to fix his long mane of hair without using a blow dryer after all.

"Roserade, to me if you please." Nando commanded sharply.

In front of him, his partner pokemon materialized. Predominantly green in colour, Roserade did not differ much from Roselia except that it was quite a bit taller, its head blossoming into a white rose that looked almost like hair and upon its body it had a green shading on its face that looked like a half mask and a fluttering green cape adorned its back.

With a click of his fingers, Nando ushered his first command, "Roserade, Sunny Day if you please,"

Roserade nodded, its body beginning to glow with a golden energy. Raising its hands into the air, Roserade was about release the attack into the air and disperse the dark cloud above. When suddenly, Roserad began screaming.

Nando watched in utter shock as a pillar of lightning descended from above, striking down upon Roserade in the time it took to blink, briefly shocking the pokemon intensely before dissipating. "What!?" Nando exclaimed in utter shock as Roserade stumbled back to its feet, shaking off the damage from the attack, though not without effort.

Ash chuckled, catching his attention even across the raining battlefield, "D'ya like it?" Ash asked, a smirk on his face, "I call it Thunderstorm, you wouldn't believe how long it took us to get this combo down." the trainer revealed.

Nando had to withhold a sigh. The name was pretty self explanatory, his young friend had through creating this combination attack had created a literal thunderstorm, although it didn't explain one thing. "Why did the lightning strike Roserade?" he asked.

Ash's smirk almost doubled in size, he was like a cheshire Persian, "Because the lightning was created from Buizel's own Hidden Power, he can control where it strikes." Ash replied earnestly. He had no reason to hide how it worked, either way Nando's goal wouldn't change.

"Interesting..." Nando mused, "Well then, the moment we pause to try and destroy the attack Roserade will be struck with lightning, thus meaning we shall have to keep constantly on the move." he said to himself thoughtfully.

He turned a sudden sharp eye towards Roserade, "Move towards Buizel, use Mind Reader and then follow with Magical Leaf." He commanded.

Roserade nodded. Then it danced. With sudden and elegant movement, it was off, dancing across the field in large leaps. Bright light erupted from its eyes directed at Buizel.

"Agility!" Ash shouted.

Buizel's former position it found. Buizel literally disappeared from site, moving so fast Roserade's eyes failed to keep track of the sea weasel pokemon. In the blink of an eye, Buizel appeared at Roserade's side.

"Ice Punch!" Ash was quick to follow with.

Fist glowing with icy blue energy, Buizel smashed his ice empowered fist straight into Roserade's cheek and sent the pokemon flying, a startled cry of pain leaving its green lips.

* * *

"Again!" Ash shouted swiftly. This combination wasn't just for the pinpoint lightning attacks after all.

Again, Buizel disappeared. Re-appearing right in front of Roserade's flight path and delivering a brutal Ice Punch that changed Roserade's path of flight once again.

Again and again Buizel blitzed Roserade, disappearing and re-appearing in the blink of an eye and delivering one Ice Punch after another. Neither Roserade or Nando could even begin to react to the devastatingly quick succession of attacks.

Thunderstorm wasn't just a field attack. It was an attack made to attack and set it up for Buizel's Swift Swim ability to be activated. Buizel's natural speed, enhanced by Swift Swim and then further empowered with Agility. It was a powerful combination, so powerful in fact that it made Buizel even faster than Pikachu by a decent margin.

It took a hell of a lot of energy to maintain though. Which is why he would be ending this battle here and now.

"Aqua Toss!" Ash declared.

In an instant, Buizel's attack pattern changed. An aura of water erupted around Buizel as he appeared in front of Roserade, grabbing the grass-type pokemon around the neck in a headlock. Then, then Buizel shot off into the sky carrying Roserade into the sky.

All was quiet as Buizel and Roserade disappeared into the cloud His amber eyes sought out Nando and Ash couldn't help but chuckle a little at the slack jawed expression on the bard's face. He had no idea what was going on.

Ash did though. For some weird reason, Buizel couldn't learn Seismic Toss. Weird considering it was little more than a grapple technique where the used tossed the opponent. So he'd made his own version with Buizel, and even put a little spin on it so Buizel could use it to a degree in the same range as his Charizard could. It was powerful when used from a high altitude.

So right now, Buizel was shooting high into the air with Aqua Jet. Once he got to a suitable height he'd about turn and come straight back down, using the headlock on his opponent to drive them face first into the earth after coming down from a massive height and picking up a ton of speed. He may even incorporate Agility into it once he figured out how to get Buizel to survive it without hurting himself.

"Any moment now." Ash mused, raising his eye to the sparking cloud above him. He wished he had a watch, it would be funny if he just started whistling and watching it, he was sure.

" _Folks..I just...what's...I have no idea what's going on,"_ the MC of course felt the need to chime in, " _Where did the pokemon go?_ " he received only silence. That guy had no idea what he was doing besides stating the obvious

Nando's stare at him was almost heartbreaking. As if the world had abandoned him right then and there.

Thankfully, Ash didn't need to weather the stare any long. A mighty crash suddenly erupted from the middle of the arena, a small wave of water from the building puddle and chunks of earth flying into the air. Buizel flew off to his side, skidding to a halt in front of him, panting deeply but with a satisfied smirk on his face once again.

Smoke, water and earth gave way to reveal Roserade. A massive crater, almost entirely circular in shape had been forced into existence and almost five feet deep. Right in the centre of the crater, Roserade stood up ramrod straight like a hammered nail, head literally buried beneath the ground.

Ash almost burst out laughing right then and there.

* * *

Harley, back in Johto seemed to have no such reservations. He burst out into loud, uncontrollable and entirely malicious laughter. "No-nobody tell D-Drew!" He managed to get out in between bursts of laughter, "C-can you imagine t-t-the look on his f-face, aha!"

Solidad snorted, "What, you want to see Ash have his pokemon plough his Roserade face first into the ground after a drop from high altitude?" she questioned. Then she grinned, "On second thought, I'd pay to see that."

May rolled he eyes. How was it they were older than her again? Either way she wasn't interested in the Ash-Drew apparent rivalry. She was entirely focused on this battle. That move was ingenious, exactly something she'd expect from Ash and something that would probably go over well in a contest.

The thunderstorm cloud making it seem the pokemon had disappeared could be left out though if she ever tried it, it added a tad too much hilarity to the scene. She could see Ash from here, on the screen struggling not to laugh. May nearly rolled her eyes again

She wondered if Wartortle could learn Aqua Jet?

* * *

Nando clenched his hand around Roserade's pokeball tightly, a frown on his lips. That...that experience was unpleasant. Never before had he been made so entirely useless in a battle. Buizel had been just too fast for him to think of a counter and that finisher attack had taken him entirely out of the equation.

The only option, even now that he could think of would be a widespread attack that erupted from the body. The problem was, Roserade knew no such attack. Still, that speed was just too much.

Was that the kind of power those dedicated to solely training pokemon for battling could achieve? He knew that Gible, now Gabite had been Ash's most recent acquisition, had he only overwhelmed it because Ash had it for such a short amount of time?

No, Nando decided shaking his head. Even after taking that lightning strike and over a dozen Ice Punch attacks, Roserade had still had the power to continue. His pokemon were powerful enough to contend with Ash's, he had just been outplayed that was all.

Indeed, Nando realized. It was not his pokemon that were lacking, but him. He would rectify that, effectively immediately.

"Altaria, to me if you please!" the bard called as he released his final pokemon.

* * *

When the feather winged dragon appeared on the field. Ash decided it was time to wrap this up. From his belt, he retrieved Buizel's pokeball and returned him within a beam of red light. "Good job," he said to the pokeball, "No doubt you could have handled Altaria as well, but you've used up a ton of your energy and I want to finish this quickly."

" _What's this folks!? With the momentum entirely in his and Buizel's favour, Ketchum has decided on a timely switch out!_ " The MC blathered on. Couldn't he find anything useful to say? " _What could he be planning now? Are we going to see another amazing combination from him_?"

He took a glance upwards, and as he imagined the weather effect without Buizel to power it was already dissipating, "Torterra, let's go!" the amber eyed trainer shouted, releasing his next pokemon. Torterra landed on the field, his weight nearly enough to shake the entire battlefield as he landed. The dual grass and ground-type roared as he appeared on the field, announcing his presence to all whom watched the battle.

"I will not be so easily outplayed as last time my young friend!" Nando shouted from across the battlefield.

Ash smirked, "That's fine, we're gonna end this in one attack anyway," he replied, full confidence in his voice.

"We're it but anyone else, me thinks it would be but a bluff!" Nando shouted, "But I know you speak nothing but what you believe to be the truth in this bout, but methinks we shall not fall so easily as you seem to believe my young friend!"

"Believe what you want." Was Ash's simple reply.

Then the battle was on once again.

"Moonblast, if you please!" Nando swiftly commanded. Once again forgoing any attempt at his usual Sing routine. Smart of him, Ash decided.

Every single member on his team today had been taught Sleep Talk in preparation for this battle. TM's were expensive little gadgets, but useful if you needed an attack for a quick fix. Bit of a rip off though since they only imparted the very basics of the attack into the pokemon they were used on. He taught his Heracross Sleep Talk a while back within a couple of days, easy stuff but the TM's were needed this one time because of they had less than a days preparation before facing Nando.

"Energy Ball." Ash ordered calmly, his eyes flickering to the Altaria flying above them, "Follow with Rock Climb but don't move from your spot." he continued.

Before he'd even finished speaking, Torterra had created a large sphere of swirling green energy that he sent soaring into the air where it collided with the equally large sphere of Moonblast. The two attacks exploded as they impacted, raining down motes of green and pink sparkles.

With a roar, Torterra was quick to follow up the attack. Claws on his feet glowing a bright silvery white, Torerra reared back up on his rear legs before slamming forward and crushing his front feet against the battlefield harshly.

The very battlefield splintered and shook beneath them as a massive pillar of earth shot from the ground into the air. In the split second before it smashed into Altaria, the part dragon pokemon managed to seamlessly and elegantly weave to the side and completely avoid the attack.

"Energy Ball, barrage." Ash was quick to follow up with.

In but a split moment, Torterra formed an energy ball in front of his mouth, much smaller than the previous one and sent it flying at Altaria. Again, and again Torterra rapidly created the spheres of grass type energy and released them like cannon balls towards Altaria.

None came even close to hitting, one by one Altaria weaved between the attacks with ease, not even close to to being on target. That was fine, though. Ash had a plan, he just had to make them come to Torterra. And a rapid fire of attacks like this, forced them to take action either way.

Nando clicked his fingers, "This is getting us nowhere," he spoke, his voice melodic as always but Ash could detect an under current of frustration in it, "Mist, then charge up please."

Dodging the latest Energy Ball, Altaria let loose a loud squeal and from its mouth a large fluffy cloud of mist began to erupt and take form, billowing across the battlefield and enshrouding the entire arena, hiding everything from view.

Things went quiet. Though Ash could still hear the murmurs of the crowd and a humming noise that he was sure were coming from Altaria. He cast an eye at the pokemon standing merely a few feet in front of him, "Take it head on, protect your skull," he said simply, "You know what to do after that."

Then, he closed his eyes. And waited.

* * *

Dawn growled, cupping her fingers around her eyes as she tried to peer through the fog, "C'mon! What the heck!" she shouted, "I can't see a thing." the coordinator complained.

With a huff, the blue haired girl leaned back, hugging Piplup to her chest as she pouted, "What's Nando even thinking?" she mused, "His pokemon can't see in that fog either."

"Correct." Brock answered her, "He's going for a physical attack, no doubt about it."

Dawn threw him a questioning glance, "How can you tell?" she asked.

Brock took a look at the filed before turning to give her his full attention, "He already had the range advantage with Altaria in the air, unfortunately for him Ash wasn't content to let him keep it which is why he kept Torterra shooting those Energy Balls." he explained, "His only option at this point is to take Ash and Torterra off guard, meaning he used the Mist attack as a way to hide his position from Torterra."

"But won't Torterra just move?" Dawn questioned.

Brock shook his head, "No," he answered, "They were in a bit of a stalemate. Altaria aren't really built for fast flying, they're more physical beasts than speed – with his coordinator training, Nando has done nothing to rectify that and has instead worked on making Altaria fly as elegantly as possible." he explained.

Once again, the pieces began to fall into place for Dawn, "Ah! So you mean Altaria couldn't close the distance fast enough before Torterra could react, right?" she asked, "And most likely that attacking from a distance wouldn't be useful because it would give away Altaria's position and make the fog a moot point, right?"

Brock nodded in affirming her thoughts, "Keep your eyes on the battle Dawn, either way this round is going to end in a few seconds." he told her.

* * *

For a few moments, the entire mist lit up red. Then, there was a thunderous impact. A grunt of pain so loud it reverberated throughout the entire battlefield, followed by another thunderous impact that caused the entire battlefield to shake mightily.

Then there was silence.

Seconds later, Ash opened his eyes and ever so slowly the mist clouding the battlefield from view began to disperse. When it fully cleared, the victor of the battle was revealed.

Torterra was the first thing that came into view, being near enough the biggest thing on the field. The entire side of Torterra's face was blackened, burnt right down to one of the shoulder that led to its amazingly hard shell, even the outer rims of the shell was burnt slightly as well, small red embers clinging to the surface.

Altaria was next to come into view. A shocking sight, the elegant part dragon type lay completely unconscious in yet another large crater. Four absolutely gargantuan roots pinned it in place, looking for all intents and purposes as if they came down like the hammer of a god from above and crushed Altaria beneath their mighty size and weight.

Altaria had managed to deal quite a bit of damage. Even slightly burning Torterra's shell was quite the feat. But in the end, as Ash had predicted….it indeed ended in one clean blow from Torterra.

"Altaria is unable to battle! With two pokemon remaining, the winner of this battle is the Red Trainer, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town!"

And with that, it was over. Ash would be moving on to the victory tournament for the third time in his young life.


End file.
